Total Recall
by csiphile
Summary: Manticore captures Max and Alec, taking away thier memory of TC, after regaining thier memories, they engineer the ultimate downfall of Manticore - from within. MA Please R&R.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Total Recall

Author: CSIphile/Redwing

Rating/Genre: PG-13, angst

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own them, cause if I did Alec would be nekkid every episode. Seriously, the characters are owned by James Cameron and Charles Eglee, any new characters and the plot are mine alone. The title is stolen from a movie, it just fits so well, I couldn't resist.

Summary: Captured together, will Max and Alec survive to get back to Terminal City.

AN: This is my first Dark Angel WIP, I have written many, many others for other fandoms, however, so I'm hoping this doesn't suck. All items in _italics_ are memories or thoughts. I hope who's doing the thinking isn't too confusing, if it is let me know and I'll attempt to clear it up.

Thanks: To everyone who reviewed my last fic "Will You" it inspired me to start this one.  To my fabulous beta, you know who you are. You're the best, easily. 

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Chapter 1: Captured

She wakes slowly, all her senses coming back one by one. Her head feels…funny. Fuzzy, like she has been drinking too much and is still hung over the next morning. Only she doesn't get hangovers and her apartment seems to be moving, her body bouncing up and down with the motion. That's when she realizes she's not in her bed, or any bed for that matter.; whatever she is lying on is hard and unforgiving.

'What the hell happened?' she wonders. Opening her eyes, Max finds herself staring right back  into hazel eyes filled with concern. The owner of said eyes, unlike herself, is sitting upright and about four feet to her right. 

_Sharp pain._

_Alec, yelling her name._

_Blackness._

A sense of dread fills her, and she sits up slowly, going into a near panic when chains around her legs and arms limit her mobility. Pulling at the metal, she is distressed to find she is unable to break them. Suddenly, it all comes back with frightening speed, and she looks up at her fellow captive, similarly adorned with handcuffs and chains, terror washing over her. Quickly, she takes in her surroundings: they are in what looks like a small box -- no windows, no access to whoever is driving the vehicle, and the walls appear to be made of the same material as her chains. She is sitting on a bench that runs from one end of the area to the other, with Alec on another bench opposite her.

"Max? You ok?"

"I…" She looks around. They are being transported in the back of a van of some kind. "I think so." 

Looking down at herself, she confirms her initial assessment; besides a pounding headache and some general achy ness, she seems to be fine. Snapping her head up, she looks at Alec.

"You ok?"

"None the worse for wear. For the minute anyway." His voice is serious, something Max infrequently hears from him. 

"It was a fucking set up!" she finally says after several minutes of silence.

"Looks that way. Someone must have alerted Manticore." At that, he shakes his head and looks down.

"Manticore?" she questions.

Alec just nods and runs through the events in his head.

_"Hey, how about a beer once we are done here?" he had asked her quietly._

_"You're on, pretty boy." She smiled back at him._

_"I think the 'bar' in TC recently came upon some Canadian brew." He smirked at her._

_"I don't even think I want to know." She shook her head and laughed lightly._

_"No, probably not." He pursed his lips and also shook his head._

_A quiet cackle came through their headsets and the voice of an X6 named Mink voice came through the line._

_"Unidentified vehicle at two o'clock." _

_Both transgenics turned to the approaching vehicle, confused. Intel had assured them that no one would be unloading the semi until morning at the earliest. _

_"What the hell…" Alec muttered. He and Max were hiding on one side of an embankment, concealed by darkness. Two X6s, Mink and Alesha, were stationed on the warehouse roof; Alesha disconnecting the ancient alarm system, Mink keeping watch on the entrance._

_Something about the sudden appearance of the black van set Alec's senses off. It was driving slowly, approaching the semi-truck that they had been prepared to hijack. A voice in the back of his head was screaming at him that they needed to retreat, that something had gone sideways. _

_"Something's up. Not good," Max said into his ear. Apparently she had the same feeling._

_Looking at her, they communicated silently, and he nodded his head in agreement. Retreat. Immediately. Quickly, Alec relayed the information to the X6s and watched them slip into the inky darkness. There were no lights in the area, save two docking lights that really didn't illuminate anything except their target._

_Without even looking at Max, he relayed the retreat to her with hand signals. She replied the same way, and they turned to leave -- only getting about 50 yards from their original position before meeting up with an army. _

_Both the X5s stopped dead in their tracks, assessing the situation. There were at least 10 soldiers dressed in camouflage. Something about them was familiar to Alec, but he couldn't voice it before a shot rang out, and he moved to avoid the bullet. _

_He looked at Max, and in tandem they blurred the line -- figuring the only way out was to just start the fight and hope to gain an element of surprise. _

_For a little while it seemed to work, until while administering a roundhouse to the face of one solider, he saw the tazer weapon, and Max hit the ground, convulsing hard. _

_"Max!" he yelled, and was similarly treated to a shock of his own and hit the ground mere inches from her. _

In the back of the truck, she shudders as she remembers the tazer making contact with her abdomen. She had been down in less than five seconds. 

_She opened her eyes briefly against the pain; Alec was beside her on the damp grass, out cold. She looked up at their attackers. _

_Manticore. The small lion emblem sewn onto their fatigues. _

_X-Series. _

_Shit._

"Manticore," he repeats quietly.

They sit in silence, contemplating the meaning of that one word. The word that can strike fear into their hearts in a second. Neither of them want to go back; both are aware of the punishment they are about to endure -- him more than her. Reindoctrination; maybe even Psy Ops. Alec shivers physically at that thought; he was there once, and isn't in the mood to repeat the experience. Manticore has ways of breaking you that the mob would be proud of: by the time they were through with you, you didn't care about anyone but yourself. And even that was a stretch. It wasn't that you were suddenly a loyal solider -- you just didn't want to piss them off 'cause that would mean another trip downstairs.

And boy, had they managed to piss off Manticore. 

"What are they going to do to us?" she asks, her eyes belaying the fear.

"You really don't want to know. You think whatever they did to you last time was bad, just wait." His voice is emotionless, trying not to remember.

He watches as she bites her lip. Never in his four years of knowing her has Alec seen her so…scared. Not that he could blame her; she had been running from this place for thirteen years. One capture and a fire later, she had thought they were safe. Manticore had seemingly burned to the ground and their biggest problem was the familiars. And, for whatever reason, they wouldn't enter Terminal City.

But now the two leaders of the refuge are in the back of a van headed to who-knows-where to have who-knows-what done to them. But as quickly as the fear comes, so does the anger.

"Dammit, Alec! We KNOW better -- what the hell were we thinking going on a supply run? Nothing like sending your two leaders out where they can get captured! At the same time!" With that, she pulls on the chains in front of her violently, only succeeding in tearing at the skin on her wrists, causing blood to flow. 

"Max, we didn't know, we couldn't know. How long had it been since we'd been outside TC? Four months, maybe five? A simple supply run seemed like a great way to get out. Low risk, a little fun, blow off some steam…." He pauses, and looks at her now red-tinged wrists. 

"But why the hell did we decide to blow of a little steam together?"

He shrugs at her. "'Cause we haven't seen each other for more than 10 minutes at a time in weeks, and when was the last time we pulled a job together?"

"I don't know -- it's been a while actually…" She conceded his point. They needed to get out together -- spend some time away from TC, even if it was only on a supply run. If they both would admit to it, they had missed each other.

In the two years they had been instilled at Terminal City, the two had grown close -- closer than Alec could have ever predicted. Of course, being the two leaders of the city sorta forced them together. At first, very little got done without an argument between them, but eventually they had settled nicely into a co-leader situation. They were both the CO; in Terminal City they didn't have SIC's. Every decision is made via committee, and then both Max and Alec have to agree on the decision. It was becoming less and less frequent that they disagreed. It has been almost disconcerting to those around them who are used to the bickering and occasional physical fight.

Of course, building a city had also built their friendship. Logan was long gone -- moved to Canada when his life was threatened yet again by White; that had been 18 months ago. Of course, their relationship had effectively ended when he was forced out of TC by the toxins, along with OC and Sketchy, almost two years ago, shortly after the Jam Pony incident.

In the end, Max and Alec had turned to each other -- becoming each other's confidants, a shoulder to lean on, and co-leader. Somewhere along the way though, they had started to slowly acknowledge some of the deeper feelings between them. More than friends, less than lovers seemed to be the current state of their relationship. Both scared to take that last step, afraid it would ruin everything; plus, they simply hadn't found the time to be with each other long enough to discuss a potential physical relationship, or make time for one for that matter. Alec found that cosmically funny -- he had ripped on her about knowing Logan for a year and never getting physical, and yet here he was -- in the exact same position, with the same girl. For twice as long. 

"The question is how did the bad guys find out?" he finally questions.

"I….the only people who knew were you, me, Mole, Dix, and Mink and Alesha."

"Exactly."

"What? Are you saying one of our own turned us in?"

He remains silent and watches her consider this; he can almost see the exact second she realizes he is right. "Ohh god. But they didn't know who was going, that was a last minute decision. How did they know they would get us?"

"I don't think they were after us specifically; any transgenic would do, and we just happened to be the toy surprise." He bangs the back of his head on the side of the van, grimacing slightly.

He watches her face fall at the horrible realization of why they are even in this predicament. And he feels for her;  Alec himself had become close to several people within TC, and knew almost all of them. He can't imagine someone doing this, nor can he discern a motivation for it. 

tbc…………………………..Please review and let me know what you think…reviews fuel the writes soul.


	2. Hate

Title: Total Recall, 2/?

Author: CSIphile/redwing

Same disclaimers, rating, ect.

Summary: Max and Alec are captured by Manticore, will they be able to return to TC, or will their new nemesis's plans be too much for them?

AN: I'm trying to get the first couple chapters out here right quick cause they really set up my plot. Reviews are appreciated…thanks!

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Chapter 2: Hate

Mole is surprised to see Mink and Alesha charging into HQ so early. He figured the job would take another hour at the minimum. He observes their body language as they speak to Dix; the female is nervous, constantly fidgeting, hers eyes darting around. But it's Mink that instills fear into him. He is reporting like they are back in Manticore; standing stiff as a board, he can hear the occasional "Sir" coming from the X6.

Finally, Dix turns to him after appearing to reassure the transgenics -- his expression doing little to dispel Mole's fear.

"Mole. Did Max and Alec check in?" His voice is commanding, but his face is soft. 

"No, not yet. Why?"

"There was a problem; the unit was ambushed. Alec ordered these two to leave, and they haven't seen Max or Alec since. That was nearly two hours ago."

"Maybe they just haven't checked in with me yet," Mole says -- more for the teenagers' benefit than his. He turns his attention to them. "You guys go ahead and get cleaned up…get some grub. I'm sure they are holed up somewhere or are busy beating each other down for almost getting caught. Ok?"

"Yes, Sir." They respond in unison, and salute before leaving.

"You really think they got held up?" Dix asks.

"Not anymore than I think they stopped to have a quickie." He sighs and turns to the computer. "Max and Alec would have been here shortly after the 6's, if only to make sure they got out ok. Or at least called. Something's not right."

Sighing, he leans forward, stretching as far as he can towards her. She mimics his movements until their knees make contact. Slowly, he reaches out and touches her raw wrists; the blood has started to clot, but the smears of red are still there against her tan skin. Slowly, he runs his thumbs along the unmarred skin above the cuts, contemplating his next words carefully.

"Max, I need you to listen to me carefully, ok?"

He expects a snarky comment, but is surprised when she merely nods at him -- the nature of their current situation probably playing a part in her sudden passive behavior. 

"The re-indoctrination they did when Renfro had you? That wasn't re-indoctrination by a long shot; they didn't give you the full treatment because they wanted you to go back to Logan and infect him. You wouldn't have been capable if Manticore had really put the whammy on you."

She smiles slightly. "Whammy?"

"TV, Max. When we get home, I'm buying you a TV." He allows a moment of lightheartedness, since it's about to get deadly serious. "My point here is they are going to put you through hell and back, Max. They'll tell you things, show you things in order to gain your submissiveness -- your loyalty, information, whatever they want. It's mostly psychological…" He pauses and purses his lips lightly. "But if that doesn't work, they'll try…other ways."

He watches her close her eyes against the visual. He hates to do it, but she needs to know what's going to happen. That's if they even make it that far, but Alec highly doubts they would take them out back and shoot them before at least trying other alternatives. He knows that the two of them represented the best that Manticore had to offer. And he suspects that, with the release of decades of work, they will try to get them back into the fold. They are a billion dollar investment, after all. 

Gripping her hands, he looks down. "They can't know that we have a…relationship. That we are even friends. Because they will use it against us. They'll use me against you." He swallows hard and closes his eyes briefly against tears. Alec can't stand the idea of them using him in any way to break her. 

"We hate each other," she propositions quietly.

"Yeah, we hate each other." He gives her that Alec smirk.

"Yeah…." Her words agree with him, but her tone holds some trepidation.

Instantly, he pulls one hand away and tilts her head up to him. "You HAVE to, Max -- no trying, do you understand? Don't you see? They'll use me to break you, to turn you back into 452, to destroy who you are. Please, please…remember how much you hated me." His voice holds desperation -- she has to understand.

Finally, she nods. "Then you have to do the same, Alec, if they use me against you…."

"Don't worry about me, ok? I've been through it before."

She looks at him suspiciously. "Yeah, but you never escaped before."

He doesn't respond, Alec is well aware that this will be so much worse then the Berrisford incident. That was his first assignment -- a judgment error…they had been willing to give him a second chance. As much as Manticore allowed without destroying your personality. 

"I can handle it, Max. Six months in Psy Ops will do that for someone."

He watches her shudder slightly at the reminder. They had long ago moved past the ghost that was Ben. 

"I…I though Manticore was gone though, Alec. Burned to the ground."

"Yeah, well they have a habit of rising from the ashes when you don't want them to. We've been driving for a while now -- at least five hours, give or take." He pauses. "I don't think we are in Seattle anymore, Dorothy."

Silence ensues for several minutes as he holds onto her hands and lightly runs his fingers over the cuts. He wishes there was something he could do, but when he woke up, Alec came to the same conclusion she had: they can't get away until that back door is opened. He is quietly contemplating a plan of attack for when they arrive at their destination, when her small voice cuts the quiet.

"Tell me about Psy Ops." She keeps staring at their hands, however; she seems to be unwilling to look at him -- almost afraid of the answer.

Alec swallows again. This isn't a topic he wants to discuss. "It's…torture. Pure torture. They never let up, constantly bombarding you with images. Horrible images of what you've done, who you are. An assassin, a murderer… Putting ideas in your head, so many after a while, you're not sure what were your thoughts, and which ones they inserted for you."

"Alec, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"You couldn't. You were long gone before you would have even heard of Psy Ops."

The slow deceleration of the vehicle causes both of them to look up. A sense of panic settles in both of them as they look at each other. Alec reaches out and touches her cheek- he can just reach her- his thumb running lightly against her smooth skin. 

"Max, whatever happens, we will get out of here, ok?" His voice is tinged with desperation. 

_God, you're full of shit_, he thinks, and looks into her dark eyes, seeing fear reflected back to him. _You told Asha you go after what you want. And what you want has been in front of you for nearly three years. _Alec refuses to let another minute pass without letting her know without a doubt that he wants her. It may not be the best time, but he may never get another chance.

Using his fingers against her jaw, he pulls her into him and places a kiss on her lips, trying to put every emotion he feels for her behind it. They feel exactly as he has imagined -- soft and full, luscious. She tastes like vanilla and coffee, probably the last thing she ate. When she doesn't push him back across the space, he deepens the kiss -- desperation setting in as he realizes this might actually be the last time he ever sees her again.

She seems to sense his need, and responds to his feverish movements, allowing his tongue access to her, and groaning as he explores her mouth. After several minutes, he pulls away and looks into her eyes, which are welling with unshed tears.

"I'm so sorry, Maxie," he whispers, and places his forehead on hers. "So sorry I waited until now to do that."

He can see her lower lip trembling, and shortly thereafter, tears slide down her cheeks. "I…"

She is cut off by the van coming to a complete stop. They can both hear people on the outside -- at least a dozen by his guess. He reaches out and wipes the tears from her face, and they return to their separate benches with all the speed Manticore afforded them.

Before the door opens, he speaks quietly so only she can hear. "I promise you this, Max: I will get us out of here." He increases his tone to normal levels. "But until then, you're a bitch."

The door opens.

Both their faces revert in an instant to looks of disgust.

"Yeah? Well you're an asshole," she replies with all the venom she can. 

And they turn to face their captors.

tbc……………………..don't forget to review!


	3. New Management

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 3

Author: redwing/csiphile

Diclaimers, ect: All on the first chapter

AN1: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I so appreciate it. I wish I had the time to signal everyone out personally, but I don't, but know your words are heard and they DO inspire me to write faster. I will, however, address if you have a question or a constructive comment (see below), I will ignore flames.

AN2: I figured I would just post this chapter, its so very short. I cant remember who mentioned it, but I'll tell you guys this, this is turning out to be a pretty long fic so far. Hope you don't mind. This introduces my new bad guy, he's named after another TV character (and my beta) and if you can guess what character…I'll give you a virtual cookie. 

GivenAlias: I'm not sure if you mean plot wise or action with my descriptions. Plot wise I'm being vague intentionally right now, as the fic goes on, everything will start to…clear a bit.

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Chapter 3: New Management

"Anything yet?"

Mole looks up at his counterpart and narrows his eyes. "Any reason you think I wouldn't tell you if I had?"

Dix raises his hand in surrender. "Just asking."

The lizard sighs loudly, and points in frustration at the screen. "I've got two unknowns at the warehouse, at least. They show up on satellite.  They leave approximately 15 minutes after the 6's bolted, give or take. After that…they just disappear -- no readings on them at all. No reports of two vans crossing any sector checkpoints either. It's like they never existed."

"Maybe they are just hiding somewhere. Could have gotten caught and had to stop until whatever passed."

Mole gives him a funny look. "Without calling? Dix…it's been seven hours, and they both have cells. I just don't have a good feeling."

The other transgenic pats his friend's back, morosely. "Me neither, man, me neither." He pauses and looks at the blank screen. "When do we tell TC?"

"When we're sure."

Dix nods, and Mole hopes it doesn't come to that.

Alec plasters that smirk on his face, and nods appreciatively at the dozen or so soldiers pointing automatic weapons at them.

"Look, Maxie, it's the welcoming party," he says as two of the soldiers board the van, one going to each of them to unlock the chains.

"Shut up," she responds, and rubs at her raw wrists lightly. "You're the idiot that got us caught."

"That's not my….HEY!" He shrieks when a tazer is applied to his upper arm, sending a light shock through him. Alec hears Max start to take in a sharp breath, but cuts it off. 'Good girl,' he thinks as his chains are also released, but a gun is placed to the back of his neck as he is led out of the van. 

Alec takes in their surroundings as his guard brings him to an abrupt stop next to Max, who is also looking around carefully. They are inside what looks like an expansive warehouse. High ceilings dominate the architecture, along with two huge doors -- one of which they had obviously driven through -- on one end, with smaller ones on the opposite wall. He doesn't see a means for escape, not with upwards of a dozen of Manticore's finest pointing weapons at them from every angle. 

"I wouldn't bother." A deep voice echoes in the area, followed by a man parting the sea of transgenics holding them hostage. "You wouldn't make it out of here, much less past the perimeter guards."

Alec watches as the large, youngish, bald man approaches them, waving away the two guards who had been holding weapons on them. He reminds Alec of someone. Without any fear of the two transgenic hostages, he walks behind them, pulling down Alec's black turtleneck first before moving onto Max and lifting her hair.

He lets out a low whistle and walks in front of them. "Well, looks like I hit the jackpot. 452 and 494 -- I don't think there's a better prize out there. And I got you in one fell swoop."

"Merry fucking Christmas," Max mutters under her breath.

Alec watches helplessly as the man raises one hand and deals her a vicious blow across the jaw, drawing blood from her lip. Max is about to retaliate when the guard who had been dismissed appears quickly with a gun to her head.

"You'd do well, 452, to keep your comments to yourself." He straightens slightly, rolling his shoulders. "This isn't the Manticore of old, you see -- we're under new management. And the new powers that be don't handle insubordination well. At all. The pansy ass Manticore that you remember…is gone. Well, you'll find out soon enough, dear."

Alec watches her eyes narrow at the term of endearment, but thankfully she manages to keep her mouth shut. 

"I'm Dr Olivet. Director of the Boise, Idaho facility. One of the last since Wyoming closed and…well you know what happened outside Seattle." He looks pointedly at Max. "When the Seattle facility…burned, they lost a lot of research thanks to your handiwork, 452. So the new people in charge decided why start over when we can just take back what was ours to begin with."

He shrugs and starts pacing in front of them. Alec recognizes this as an intimidation technique. "It's been a hard process, but with over 100 transgenics and transhumans at this location alone, we are well on the way to restoring our glory…and funding. Welcome home children, we've missed you." 

He gives them a chilling smile before signaling to the guards yet again. "Take them to isolation. I'm sure a few days there will start the process right along."

Richard Olivet finally sinks into his leather chair after another disappointing visit with the DNA lab and turns to look out his window. His frustration is growing, along with Manticore higher brass in Washington, DC. His DNA lab is having little success replicating the enormous DNA store that had been housed outside Seattle. It would take too many men, too many years to recreate what they had, and Richard doesn't have that kind of time. In-vitro fertilization of the female soldiers is failing miserably, and unless the females are in heat, conception is only occurring about nine percent of the time. He hates the idea of breeding the Xs, it's so….unrefined, but it might become necessary.

They need more soldiers, and while the recapture efforts are going reasonably well, it's not enough -- not even close. Too many transgenics have taken the smart route, and either bolted out of this country as soon as they were released or are still in hiding. The rest, well the rest are completely unattainable -- sitting all nice and pretty wrapped up with a bow in Seattle.

Perhaps that will change with his two newest arrivals. He knows that 452 is pretty much in charge at the transgenic stronghold, and 494 appears to be her right hand man. His source has provided him with enough correct information that Olivet could trust this; hell, he has two leaders of Terminal City sitting in isolation thanks to him. This could be the perfect opportunity to swoop in before White and his merry band of cultists figured out what's going on. 

The real problem is the political mess in Seattle. With the local government practically on top of the city at all times, it would be a little tough to get in there without causing a fuss. It would bring undue attention to Manticore, which has, up to this point, been flying under the radar. Only those at the highest level of government in DC are aware of the situation, and a massive sweep of TC by them would raise the ire of the local guys who seemed to be determined to solve the problem and take the glory. But maybe TC would be thrown into chaos with its leader gone, allowing the "feds" to come in and take care of the situation.

A knocking on his door pulls Olivet out of his thoughts. "Enter," he says, without turning.

"Sir, here are the files you requested. Straight from DC." 

Richard turns and takes the two thick files from his assistant. "Well if there's one thing legacy Manticore did right, it's keep backups of all its personnel files. Thank you, Jacob," he says, and waves the younger man away.

Skimming quickly through the files, a small grin starts to form. White had even managed to get some of his status reports in here before he….left. Those are the most enlightening aspect of the files, and gives Richard a good starting point as to how to break his captives. Turning 452 and 494 back into dutiful soldiers would be the feather in his cap, the one thing that no one else had managed to do. A promotion-maker. And Richard is not against using all the means at his disposal.

tbc…………………….don't forget to tip your author…leave a review!


	4. Isolation

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 4

Author: redwing/csiphile

Disclaimers: On the first chapter.

AN: Heh, I meant to have this up on Saturday, but alas, real life interfered with said plans. So here it is today! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, they are so inspiring to me! Really! Keep it up!

AN2: Just a reminder that everything in _italics_ are either memories or thoughts, should be pretty obvious which is which…I think. If its not clear let me know. I know someone mentioned they didn't want this to become too sad and depressing….uhhh you might want to close your eyes after this chapter then, I'll let you know when to open em. Angst galore ahead, but its…fun angst! The long way round is always the best…right? You'll be fine. Im a very wordy author, most of my fics are pretty long, so hang in there!__

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Chapter 4: Isolation

_Alec_

He looks around his small cell, patiently. Alec's been through this before. Isolation, especially for someone who was on the outside for any period, can be devastating. The first time, he thought he was going insane; the lack of any stimuli was enough to drive him to the edge. Enough to make him pliable to reindoctrination, anyway.

This time, he is more prepared for the drab grey walls, no light and uncomfortable cot. There would be no food and almost no water until Director Olivet said so, which could be a while based on his little speech earlier. No human – or transgenic- contact for that matter either.

Sighing, Alec lays back on his cot. He can only imagine Max is going insane, never having experienced the pleasure of being locked away in a six by six cell all day for days on end. After being led away by their transgenic brethren, both had been stripped and given the typical Manticore camo to wear before being locked in their cells at opposite ends of the long, narrow basement. He can remember the nervous look she had given him as they closed the door on her and led him to his new home. 

He's more concerned for her than for his own safety. Alec remembers what Manticore was striving to become after the 09ers escaped: a dictatorship that used psychological, and sometimes physical, torture to get the most out of its investment. He learned how to play the game within Manticore walls -- becoming the perfect soldier -- the best and the brightest. It allowed him some freedom within the tight confines they had created for all those left behind. 

Despite the tough front that Max puts up, he knows that she is an emotional person who feels things intimately. Not a good place to be right now. They'd used it against her, and he's afraid she will break quickly, giving into them without really wanting to. He has to get them out of here.

Closing his eyes, he starts to plan out escape scenarios in his head, but one memory of Max comes to him, unbidden….

_"Alec! For the love of…."_

_"What? We were just screwing around. Harmless fun."_

_"Harmless fun that ended with Todd's arm broken? What the hell were you thinking? I swear, I wonder about your mental capabilities sometimes."_

_He had smiled his most charming smile at her and approached her slowly across the conference room, almost stalking her. "What about my…'other'…capabilities?"_

_She had stood her ground, her face emotionless. "What about them?"_

_He had closed the gap between them and was dangerously close to pressing Max into the wall behind her. "Don't you ever wonder?" he whispered into her ear._

_She had licked her lips, and they were so close he could breathe her air, if he hadn't been holding his breath. She had glanced up and down his body, appreciatively, before looking him directly in the eyes. "Every day."_

_And with that, she had pulled away from him, leaving him hanging. He had almost groaned aloud. Alec had been about to inquire further, until Mole had opened the door and interrupted them._

That had been right before the supply run. Pushing the memory away, he goes back to organizing how to get out of here, when the door opens, surprising him. Tamping down the immediate instinct to go on the offensive, he merely opens his eyes and finds the director staring at him. 

Alec makes no move to greet him, and is supremely surprised when the door shuts behind him. It's just the two of them in the small room.

"No need to get up, 494," Olivet sneers.

"Wasn't planning on it, thanks." He shifts slightly on the cot, making it apparent he is trying to get more comfortable. His plans change, however, when a boot makes hard contact with his shin.

"Up."

Alec complies slowly, standing in front of the man, not at attention, but ready to take action if he needs to. Finally he notices Olivet holding a thick brown file. Probably his file.

Olivet waves the folder around a bit before opening it. "494, X5 series. Assassination was your specialty… nice. You have an impressive record here, many commendations from the former brass. You were well on the way to a CO position -- one more elimination and you would have been there. Too bad you blew it." 

Alec says nothing when he pauses.

"I'm _sure_ you remember that one, don't you? The Berrisford mission? Seems that you got a little too attached to the daughter, tried to warn them. Tsk, tsk. One tiny mistake and you spent how long in reindoctrination?" He clucks, and shakes his head at Alec. "One stupid little girl and your so-called illustrious career is over. I sure as hell hope she was worth it."

At the mention of Rachel, Alec bristles, but still remains silent. He recognizes this as the director's attempt at getting to his weaknesses. The guy is digging, and he refuses to give him anything to work with. The older man purses his lips and circles Alec tightly. Alec can smell the expensive, yet subtle, cologne he is wearing. But still doesn't move or speak.

Once again, he consults the file folder. "After the Seattle site was cauterized, you went to ground along with everyone else. I wonder about something though, Alec." He practically spits Alec's name at him. "Your training would have told you to get the hell out of dodge, to go as far away from Seattle as possible. Yet, you didn't -- maybe for a while. But eventually, you made your way back. Foolish of you, don't you think? Now…I wonder why. Maybe that pretty genetically-engineered female we caught you with? Did you fall for your assignment again, 494?"

Silence.

"DID YOU?" The man practically screams in his face.

"That bitch? I think not -- she caused me more trouble than anything."

"Then why did you stay?"

Alec finally looks him right in the eye and gives his best smirk. "Have you SEEN her? Or are you not inclined toward the female of the species?"

He had been prepared for physical violence, but the other man merely steps away from him, smiling slightly. "So you're sleeping with her?"

"I was trying my best, but they don't call her the Ice Queen for nothing."

"Interesting," Olivet says, closes the folder and head to the door. "I'll be seeing you around, 494."

"I'm looking forward to it," Alec responds, his tone derisive. 

Suddenly Alec can't breathe. Olivet had moved across the room faster than he'd ever seen and currently had him pinned against the wall, his hand circling Alec's throat and tightening. "I wouldn't. 'Cause the next time we meet, it won't be under such pleasant circumstances."

As suddenly as it happened, the director had released his hold, and disappeared out the door.

"Shit," he mutters, and rubs the now tender skin at his neck.

_Max_

Max has already determined that there is no way out of the small room except the door she is currently staring at. She figures the second it opens, she will attack the person on the other side and get the hell out. Well, first she'll find Alec, and then they both can get the hell out. 

After an interminable amount of time, she tires of staring at the door and paces the small area between her cot and the opposite wall. A transgenic could go crazy in here. She snorts at her own thought. 'Of course you could. That's the point, Max.'

Taking some deep breaths, she sits on the cot and runs her fingers through her hair. Her mind is whirring with infinite possibilities of what's going to happen next. Will they just leave her in here until she eventually starves to death and they can run their little experiments on her body? Not likely; Manticore always liked their test subjects warm and toasty, preferably with a pulse. She shudders slightly.

She wonders how Alec is doing, and surmises probably better than her right now. Hell, knowing Alec, he's already started a new business here with the guards. She still is in awe that he managed to sustain a black market ring in Manticore, apparently undetected. Then again, there was the bar at TC…..

_"Come on, Maxie, I wanna show you something." He had pleaded with her._

_"Alec, I just want to go to bed. I may not sleep much, but when I need it, I need it."_

_"Two minutes. Seriously." He had smiled that irresistible smile at her, and she had been done in._

_"Fine."_

_He had waggled his eyebrows at her, and led her by the hand through the broken down buildings of their new home. Finally coming to a stop in front of a low slung one with a bright green door._

_"You wanted to show me….?" she had asked, somewhat annoyed at the turn this was taking._

_Slowly, he had pushed open the door to reveal a bar; an empty one, but a bar nonetheless. At least the closest they could replicate, given the situation. It appeared to be a formerly run-down pub that had been partially renovated. A long bar lined one side, with stools lined up to it. On the other side were small tables with chairs, and even a decent looking pool table._

_She had turned to look at him, and smiled slightly. "This is what you've been doing with your free time?"_

_She wasn't mad, as she was sure Alec was expecting her to be. She understood the reasoning behind having it. They needed to have a place to relax -- a place to blow off steam, especially with their home and lives in constant danger._

_"Me and Biggs and Dalton." He finally let go of her hand and walked behind the bar, producing two glasses. "Care to be the first patron?"_

_"Sure would." She sat at the bar across from him and took the beer he poured for her. She had eyed the amber liquid, questioningly. "Beer?"_

_"I think it's best not to ask, Max," he'd responded with a wink, and poured himself one._

_"Hmmmm," she'd muttered through pursed lips. But she took a gulp of the liquid, and was pleased at the taste. "You did good, Alec."_

_"Thanks," he'd said, as they'd finished their beers. "Want some company on your walk home?"_

_She'd looked around the bar before settling her gaze on him. "No, I think I'd rather stay here a while."_

And she had -- they had -- stayed in their little bar, secluded from the world, from their problems until dawn. Talking about TC, strategy, life and loves lost. It was after that night that Max began to rethink her feelings for the transgenic. He had been with her through the hardest time of her life, and despite the abuse she heaped on him, didn't leave. They had started moving toward a more emotional connection, one that she cherished more than any other relationship in her life.

Sighing loudly, she is surprised when the door opens, and immediately gets up on her feet in an offensive posture, ready to attack the other person.

"Relax 452. I'm just here to…get to know you." 

She recognizes Olivet, and wonders why the director himself would come see her. Information gathering about prisoners was always left to the Psy Ops guys.

"Yeah, right," she comments, but doesn't relax one bit.

He shrugs slightly, and leans on the wall, pulling out a brown file. "So, 452. One of the 2009 escapees. Impressive, I must say, how you and the other 11 got out. It was a major failure at Manticore, and did the brass ever pay the price." He gives out a low whistle. "You probably would have enjoyed seeing the lashing they got -- literally."

"I'm sure."

"But I guess it all worked out in the end, right? I mean, here you are -- back in the fold."

She merely looks at him.

"Huh, that's practically the same expression 494 gave me. He's got quite a mouth on him."

"Tends to get him in trouble," she comments, noncommittally.

"Of that I'm sure." He pauses, and looks at something in the file. "So you'd be the one responsible for releasing all our property. How'd that work out? Not so great it would seem; the police and that idiot White pretty much have you trapped. How many transgenics or transhumans have died because YOU let them out, 452? A dozen? A hundred? Maybe more, I suspect. All out there in the world…" He moves closer to her, putting his face inches from hers. "…alone, scared, probably wanting to go back to Manticore, where they were fed and housed and warm. Stability, 452 -- that's what they crave, and that's what you took away from them. But it's all gone, thanks to you."

"Renfro…" she starts.

"Renfro followed orders after Eyes Only sent that broadcast. But somehow, I suspect you may be behind that, too."

She remains quiet, but in her head, the thoughts are running rampant. Thoughts that she had pushed out of her head almost a year ago. She had come to terms then with what she had done, and was determined to stop complaining about the past, and work on fixing the future. But now, she allows them back in, just a little. Just enough to cause doubt.

"Don't worry, though. Eventually they'll all come home." He backs away from her, and the door opens again. "Goodbye, 452."

"My name is MAX!" she yells at the closing door, and lets out a scream in frustration.

tbc……………………


	5. Torture, Alec

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 5

Author: redwing/csiphile

Disclaimers and the like on the first chapter.

AN1: Thank you for the reviews, yet again. Writing for a new fandom is a little…disconcerting sometimes. You get all happy and comfy in your regular one and its scary venturing into a new one. But everyone here has made it easy…thank you. I love y'all ask questions too. I'm more than happy to answer them, unless the answer is in the fic, then I might direct you to the chapter.

A special thanks to everyone at Nuns With Pens, you guys are the best!

AN2: Ahhhh the timeline snowjewel. I wasn't really clear was I? I think I like touched on it in the first chapter, timeline wise. This is about two years AFTER Freak Nation and season two as a whole. All the events on the show, happened. I'm disregarding the books, however, they don't exist in my fic world. Hope that helps!

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Chapter 5: Torture, Alec

"One oh one, one oh two, one oh three," he says between pushups. Alec had figured if he was going to be trapped in here for a while, he might as well get some exercise in so his muscles wouldn't be weak when they finally did let him out. 

He actually hadn't minded the first few days in his cell; he used them to plan several escape scenarios, each one with contingency plan upon contingency plan. He had a thousand different plans in his head, each one calculated with Manticore precision. But first, he needed to get a lay of the land, commit to memory the layout of more than his six by six area he had come to know as home. Unfortunately his first look-see would most likely come on the way to Psy Ops.

"One thirty," he says, without even breathing hard or breaking a sweat. Despite the thick concrete door at his head, he can hear footsteps down the hall, and swiftly gets up, laying down on his cot just as the door opens and two armed guards enter.

He regards them carefully, but has a smirk on his face. "Ahhh, guess its time to screw with my brain. Huh?"

The camo-clad men say nothing, and he shrugs while standing, allowing them to cuff him. 

"Jeez, that worried I'm going to escape? That's really not my forte, you know -- escaping. I'm more a get-let-out-and-hide kinda guy."

He gets a shove in the back in response, and walks out the door; they make a left, away from Max's cell. Looking back and forth between the guards that are flanking him, Alec purses his lips.

"Not exactly talkative, are we?" That earns him a gun butt to the back of the head. "Ok, ok...I'll be quiet. You just had to ask."

For the rest of the walk, Alec looks around, appearing to be disinterested while actually memorizing every square inch they walk by. After a few minutes, they come to a locked door and one of the guards he had mentally dubbed "Beavis" – the other appropriately named Butthead - pushes a button and a buzzer sounds, allowing them entrance. 

Alec walks in and takes in his surroundings. It's really not that different from any other Psy Ops room he has seen. Stark white walls, monitoring equipment next to a hospital bed, steel cabinets lining one wall, presumably filled with methods of torture. He actually isn't terribly impressed at the setup. It feels more like a movie set than a room of supposed terror. 

The guards bring him to a halt, and instruct him to sit in a hard-backed chair located in the dead center of the room. _Well that's not good; can't protect your back if you can't see what's behind you._ While he looks around, Beavis pulls his arms behind him, and attaches his wrists to a long chain connected to an O ring in the floor. 

Alec remains silent as Bevis pulls as tight as he can, ignoring the minor discomfort that results. He keeps his mind running -- planning, plotting their escape. He made a promise to Max, and it's one he intends to keep. 

Finally the two guards leave, and he calls out a sarcastic goodbye to them as the door shuts. He pulls at his restraints - his feet are also locked down - unable to cause any give. Obviously whatever these are made of, it would take more strength than he has to break it. _Damn. _Shifting, he finds a reasonably comfortable position and relaxes, doing what Manticore taught them to do; mentally taking himself away from the situation. Just as he settles nicely into reliving his first encounter with Max, a door opens.

But it's not the one he entered -- this one is in front of him, It had blended in so well with the walls that he hadn't even noticed it. He internally chastises himself for not noticing. 

Alec keeps the bland expression on his face as two people enter, probably doctors, followed by the person who is quickly becoming someone he doesn't look forward to seeing.

Olivet.

He watches carefully as the doctors defer to Olivet, standing behind the older man as he comes to a stop in front of Alec. Alec can't remember seeing a director so involved with the reindoctrination of transgenics before.

"Nice to see you again, 494. I trust you're enjoying your stay?"

Silence.

"I see, you're going to play that game. Fine by me."

Swiftly, Olivet's clenched hand comes out and cracks Alec across the temple, causing stars to break across his vision. As Alec brings his head up, another fist hits his jaw with incredible power, and the stars make a repeat performance.

Something isn't right here. No human should be able to hit him his hard. Hard enough to cause his vision to blur slightly. Then he hits on the answer.

"You're a transgenic," he says plainly, and spits blood out on the floor.

"I guess that IQ of yours didn't go to waste after all."

Alec looks closer at the man; Olivet actually reminds him of a TV character from one of the shows he's seen. Skinner, from the X-Files. Tall, balding, around the same age, similar facial features, except Skinner wasn't a transgenic. 

"Your not a 5 -- too old," Alec observes, turning his head to keep Olivet in his sights as the older man circles him. God, he hates this chair. "Three maybe? But all of them were…defective. Too animal-like, same as the fours."

"I was a success. Call me an early 5. Occasionally in the three and four series, they got it right. But most of those died early… progeria -- except me. The bosses decided who better to capture transgenics than one of their kind. Guess they were right."

"YOU are not one of our kind. Our kind doesn't do this to one another."

"Obviously they do, 494, or you wouldn't be here." Olivet smiles and straightens. 

Alec can't help the anger that crosses his face at that. He had confirmed their suspicions in the van; someone on the inside had set them up. 

"Ohhh, yes -- I'm sure you and your girlfriend there figured that out already. One of your kind gave you up." Again he leans in, whispering in Alec's ear. "I know you and 452 are…close."

Again…silence. _This isn't good at all. _Despite his promise to her, despite their resolve to hate each other… in the end, it didn't matter. Someone had ratted them out.__

Olivet stands again, facing the other men in the room. "Let's get this over with. Get whatever information you can from him -- then start the program."

Several hours later, Alec is dumped unceremoniously on his cot. His body aches, but mostly it's his face that's causing him discomfort. Not that he is surprised; when he managed to pull together a minor getaway attempt, they had quickly subdued him with a few well-placed hits to his head. _Always with the head._

He readjusts his position to relieve some pain from his tailbone. This was only Day One, and Alec knew many more were to come. They had started with trying to bleed information from him, but he gave up nothing -- much to his body's protest. He imagines tomorrow they will move onto psychological brain-screwing. His thoughts start to drift to Max; he can only imagine what they will do to her, but he knows she won't give up anything anymore than he had. Curling into a ball and facing the concrete wall, Alec slips into a dreamless sleep.

tbc………………


	6. Torture and Realizations

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 6

Author: redwing/csiphile

AN1: Ahhh since the last one was so short, I figured I'd get this other super short one out too.

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Chapter 6: Torture and Realizations

She was sleeping when her cell door opening pulled her from some pleasant dreams. Despite her annoyance, Max is on her feet in a second, prepared to fight. When the two guards approach her, she throws a punch at the closest, making contact with his jaw. Before she can even turn to the other one, though, sharp pain courses down her back. 

Tazer. Again.

She tries to stay standing, but the guard keeps the wand in contact with her body until she finally gives in and sinks to the floor in a hazy state of consciousness. They drag her out and down a long hall; she is unaware when she passes Alec's cell.

And promptly loses her fight to stay awake.

Waking up, she finds herself strapped to a bed in a stark white room. Doctors attaching monitors to her chest. Almost immediately, she starts struggling against the leather restraints -- a strong hand on her chest stopping her movements.

She looks up at the man whose hand is keeping her immobile, and says nothing, groaning inwardly.

"452, I might suggest that you not try to get away. 494 already learned the hard way that's not the direction to go."

Her eyes narrow slightly. _What had they done to him._

"He's fine, no need to worry about your other half." Olivet grins evilly and cocks his head to one side. "Though I think he might be a bit sore in the morning."

She sighs in annoyance. "He's not my other half -- why the hell should I care what happens to him? If he tried to escape, that's his damage." To her own ears, she sounds convincing. But that expression of smugness never leaves Olivet's face, making her neck hairs stand on end.

"You know what's funny, 452? I know you're full of shit. You can try to play the part of the bitch all you want, but I know the truth."

"Oh yeah? What truth is that?"

He leans into her and smiles. "That you and 494 are best buds, friends…maybe a little more. You know how rumors are."

She swallows; it's the tone he said it in. He knows -- somehow, he knows.

"Yeah, they are called _rumors_ for a reason. Where _do_ you get your information? Did a little birdie tell you that?" she snorts at him. 

His reaction is instantaneous; he reaches out and grabs her hair, roughly. "More like a little rat. Little rat, little human, little cat….Same for her as him."

He releases her hair, and she closes her eyes, hearing him walk away from her bed. _Jason….that bastard._

Terminal City

Mole looks around at the dozen or so transgenics around him. It has been three days since Max and Alec disappeared; sometime around hour 24, he knew they weren't coming back. They had to figure this out, had to find them. He didn't care at this point how much more attention it brought them. Their leaders were gone, and if there was one thing Manticore taught them…it was never leave your squad behind. 

He clears his throat, and starts talking loudly, authoritatively. He had become the temporary leader in the absence of their true ones. The day he and Dix had told the rest of the transgenics, it had been…hard. There were calls for a blood-letting, a true transgenic uprising against the ordinaries to find their brethren. In the end, common sense had won out; there was no guarantee the humans had them. 

Mole had reluctantly called Logan earlier that day in western Canada, and the other man had confirmed what the lizard had found out: Max and Alec weren't taken by the police, FBI, or any other human organization. Which left one option in his mind…White.

"Ok, folks, here's the deal. We know for sure now that our ordinary friends out there don't have them. Which leaves White. I want three X5 or higher volunteers to see what intel they can get. According to sources, White has been congregating to the south of us. If he has them, I bet they are there. Hands?"

Not unexpectedly, several hands shoot up. Mole picks the three he feels to be the best, and gives them directions to the area. "Be careful…recon ONLY. I don't want those familiar assholes to know we are onto them.

"Yes, sir," the largest of the three responds, and immediately turns to the other volunteers, making final plans for their job.

Mole smiles slightly; this is where his kind excelled -- it's what they were created to do. He has no doubt that they will find Max and Alec -- he's just not sure if they will still be alive when they do. The lizard turns to the others in the group and assigns them all duties, duties usually handled by their leaders. But TC has to continue to run, or else it's not just Max and Alec's lives on the line.

Mole turns back to the computer bank and finds one more transhuman looking at him, expectantly. He frowns slightly, and tries to come up with something for the rat-like creature to do. The kid had always kinda given him the creeps, and that's saying something considering Mole's appearance. It wasn't so much what it looked like as the feeling that the little guy was always up to something. 'Must be the beady eyes,' he thinks to himself before speaking.

"Jason, go see if you can help Dix and Luke with the transmission lines."

"Yes, sir."

Three Days Later

Manticore

"Sir? Sir?"

His assistant's voice finally cuts through Richard's thoughts, and he turns to the younger man. Jacob is not an imposing figure by any means compared to Olivet, but still capable. He stands a few inches short of six feet, with sandy brown hair and deep blue eyes. Very physically fit, his muscles are visible under the green Polo shirt he sports. Behind all that, however, is a quick mind with a PhD in psychiatry; Jacob was the closest they had to a transgenic forensic psychiatrist. He's read all the files on every one -- the techniques they used to keep them in line and the results.

"Yes?"

"It's not going as quickly as we had anticipated. Both are resisting the program."

Richard sighs; he had expected this. But he hadn't expected them to hold on this long. "All right. More drastic measures are to be taken." He stands and thinks a moment. "I want them both wiped, but first her -- and see if you can break 494 using her. I want that boy destroyed."

Several minutes pass before Jacob speaks up. "He does have a strong attachment to the girl, and that would most certainly break him. But sir, no one's been wiped before; you could end up killing her or removing all her training."

"I'm willing to risk it. Prep her."

tbc……………………………


	7. The Beginning of the End

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 7

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Ok, the traitor guy, I know he's not a regular, I just didn't have the heart to do that to one of the mutants we already know and love. But I did pick him from one of the guys in the parking garage at TC, he was onscreen in LAtR for like two seconds. 

AN2: Again, thank you so much for all the reviews, I love them so. Please, keep it up, I don't know if you like the direction Im going if you don't tell me.

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Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End

For the fourth day in a row, Alec is dumped onto the floor of his cell; they had long ago stopped dropping him on the slightly more comfortable bed.

Groaning, he pulls his battered body onto the cot and winces when he lays wrong on his dislocated shoulder. Today had been the worst of it. The brain fucks had started two days ago, but today, they seemed to be in an especially cruel mood -- adding a beating onto the already unpleasant images that they sent parading through his brain.

Pictures of broken bodies, some in worst shape than others -- some bloody, some just looking like they were asleep. All with one common denominator: they were all killed by 494. In between the picture show, they had pressed him for mission details he'd rather forget, using violence when they didn't get the answer they wanted. It was excruciating, Alec isn't sure how many times his one shoulder had been dislocated and then popped back in- and not nicely. He has a broken wrist, several cracked ribs, one sore shoulder and more than likely a few concussions… and that is just today.

Then they had showed him Rachel, right after the explosion, and at that point, he had wished for death, sweet release from the hell he was in. And for a fleeting moment, he had almost given in -- almost reverted to 494, just to stop the misery. He feels his alter ego stalking the edges of his mind constantly, ready to take over when Alec can't handle it anymore. But he knows that if 494 comes back, that which makes him Alec will be gone -- lost forever. 

He hadn't given in, however, he'd stayed strong -- thinking of Max and Max alone to keep him sane. Surprisingly, they hadn't mentioned her at all since the first day. They'd tried every trick in the book and then some to get him to break  -- and failed, sometimes by only the slimmest of margins. What concerned him, though, was that the doctors hadn't seemed very disturbed by the fact that he wasn't giving up. Like they knew something he didn't.

Rolling over with difficulty, he takes up the now customary fetal position, and his last resort plan flashes through his mind.

_Max. I won't let them have you. Even if I have to become what I hate. Just hang in, baby…._

With that, he slips into a pain-filled slumber. 

Even without a clock or light, Max can tell the boys are late to take her to her brain screw appointment. Three days this week, this being the fourth, they had arrived shortly after breakfast to take her to Psy Ops. And every day brought a new pain, both physical and emotional. While she didn't have years of Manticore assassinations behind her to use, she did have the incredible guilt about letting out an army of unwanteds on the world. 

Standing slowly, she flexes the hand she was sure was broken yesterday. A few manageable pricks of pain occur, and she nods slightly. _Good, not broken._

Pursing her lips, she thinks of Alec. Two days ago, after nearly coming to tears wondering what was happening in TC, Max realized it was better to focus on the problem at hand so she could escape and get back to her home. She wonders if he is ok, if he's still alive for that matter; they hadn't mentioned him or used him against her as Alec had feared. Which makes her very wary about the upcoming sessions. She worries about him, almost more for his well-being than her own. 

She would die for him; she would take her punishment and his if it meant his freedom. And yet, she still can't bring herself to admit she may be in love with the guy. 

Sitting on the floor, she starts doing crunches. _No point in going soft._

Hearing the boys on the other side of the wall, she leans her back against the concrete and waits. Same as everyday, they trot her off and bring her back, sometimes getting in some shots for themselves. 

The door opens, and she is surprised when her regular guards aren't there; she tilts her head at the man who enters. She's seen him….but where? He has a similar build to Alec, small but muscular.

And then it comes to her. The warehouse -- he had entered with Olivet, stayed by the other man's side. _Maybe his assistant? _Max smells an opportunity, and is off the floor and on top of the man in under a second. She is about to bring down a crushing blow to his windpipe, when a sting in her shoulder stops her. 

Tranquilizer. 

She can feel everything start to get fuzzy, the edges of her vision blurring. Must be some strong sedative, she ponders before giving her visitor one last look and promptly passing out.

Groaning, she comes to with a wicked headache and a dry mouth. Blinking a few times, she expects to see the interior of the Psy Ops room, but is surprised to find herself elsewhere. It looks like a hospital operating room -- cold surgical steel and monitors everywhere. Immediately, memories of Jack torn open in a similar room flood her mind, and she panics. 

_His small body strapped to an autopsy table._

_His wide eyes looking straight at her; through her practically._

_The smell of disinfectant and blood mingling together. His blood, her brothers life being drained slowly, painfully, and he is still awake._

Pulling violently on the restraints at her wrists, she starts breathing hard and struggling.

_No. No. No. No. No. No. No._

She remembers this part; the pain, the sheer terror of having your body practically autopsied while you're alive.

"Relax, 452," she hears as a needle is inserted into her arm, and she thanks God for the blackness sure to come.

Unfortunately, Max is not that lucky. While whatever they injected her with soothes the panic, it keeps her mind alert and awake. She can feel the leather binding her extremities, and the bit in her mouth to keep her from screaming out, the chill in the room, that familiar smell of disinfectant. But she can also feel something at her forehead, two small probes inserted under the skin.

Max can see Olivet standing in one corner of the room, an unsure expression on his face. 

Max looks around frantically; instinct is telling her this is an even worse situation than Psy Ops, and she needs to get the hell out. But there are no escape options: she is bound tightly to the table, and even if she could wiggle free there are three armed guards at the only door. 

_This is so very, very bad_, is her last thought before an electrical surge courses through those probes and into her brain. 

Alec is surprised when Beavis and Butthead come to get him before they feed him. He's barely recovered from yesterday's 'session' and wonders if their real goal here is to just kill him -- screw trying to turn him back. Quietly, he allows his arms restrained and follows the same path as always into the same room as always. 

Again, he wishes for a quick death. He simply cannot handle much more.

They seat him in the same old chair in front of the same video screen, and he wonders what today's atrocities will be. 

Then the door opens and Olivet arrives.

"Well, good morning, 494. We have a special treat for you today. Instead of the little retrospective as of late, let's show you something we've accomplished lately." With that, he pulls out a CD and places it in the machines. 

Alec watches as the screen blinks a few times.

And then his heart drops in his chest.

Max.

He can see her strapped to a table, struggling before the nurse injects her. There is little sound on the recording, just the noise of her moving around and making small moaning noises.

"Max," he whispers without even thinking, missing the smile that crosses Olivet's face.

He watches with trepidation as one of the doctors makes adjustments on a machine before pushing a button that causes her entire body to lift off the table slightly, and a loud scream come around the restraint in her mouth. 

Alec is near tears as he watches this continue, the doctor taking some kind of measurement before sending another shock through her with the same result. After watching about 15 minutes of the same thing, Alec starts struggling with the chains at his arms.

"You BASTARD, what did you do to her?" he spits at the older man.

Alec watches as the older man gestures to the doctor first, and a gag is placed in his mouth. Then he nods at the guard, and a door is opened.

In walks Max, unguarded and dressed in the Manticore uniform of city camouflage. Alec searches her face for something…anything to tell him his Max is still in there, still fighting, but all he finds is the blank look of a soldier. He sends an evil look to Olivet, and the other man merely turns to Max, who salutes.

"What is your designation?"

"X5-452, sir."

Alec feels his chest constrict; they couldn't have. _Could they?_ Then he feels it, 494…ready and willing.

"What is this soldier's designation, 452?" he asks crisply, pointing to Alec.

_Please, Max… please, baby._ He looks into her eyes, pleading with her to give him a sign that she's still in there.

But she doesn't. Max isn't in there anymore. He can tell, the life that lived in her eyes is gone, replaced by nothing. 

She stares back at him, their eyes locked, hers holding no more emotion than a robot's. "Unknown, sir. I've never seen this solider." 

Searching her eyes desperately he sees no recognition, she truly thinks she's never seen him. In that instant, he breaks; all that he was holding out for is gone, Alec gives up the fight, and 494 takes over.

tbc……………


	8. Partners, Again

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 8

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Yeah, I'm evil….bwhahahahaha.  Hope you enjoyed the last installments cliffhanger, cause it aint pretty here on in. 

Wow, Mirella, you have a lot of questions about this fic, and I really, really love that you do! I tend to dole out information a little at a time until the end, so everything will be answered….in time. **insert evil laugh here**

AN2: No tricks or treats here, there's no clone and she isn't faking. She just doesn't remember (and now neither does he), some more explanation in this chapter. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 8: Partners, Again

Terminal City

"Mole, it's been a month. Four weeks."

"You think I don't know that?" Mole sighs, and slams a fist on the desk. Max's old desk.

Dix looks at him, softly. "They aren't coming back."

That earns a whimper from the other transhuman in the room. Dix turns and touches Joshua lightly on the arm. All of TC is grieving the loss of their leaders, but no one more than Josh. Every day, less and less people come up to Dix and inquire about the status of Max and Alec -- most probably accepting the fact they are gone.

"They could still be alive," Mole protests.

"They could. But Mole, you've had guys following White and his cronies for three weeks now, and there is no sign they have them. Logan can't find any indication they were sold to another country. We need to move on -- you need to accept that you and I are the leaders now. These people need us." Dix swallows nervously, not sure how his next statement will be taken. "We don't have the manpower to keep following all White's henchmen. It's getting hard to procure supplies."

"I know, I know." The lizard sighs. "Ok, bring everyone back but one. I want one person on White at all times; figure out a rotation schedule."

"Ok." He pats his friend on the shoulder before leaving. 

"Max and Alec not dead," Joshua finally says, his voice hard.

"You don't know that, big guy."

Joshua sniffs the air before giving Mole a determined look. "Not dead."

Manticore

Richard looks over the training area in front of him. There are a few dozen pairs of transgenics fighting, learning new techniques, teaching others. 'This is what Manticore intended,' he thinks, and gives himself a self-satisfied smirk. He created this.

He sees his assistant jogging across the grounds at him, and moves forward to meet him.

"Yes, Jacob?"

"They've been cleared by medical. Are you sure this is wise? It's only been three weeks since the wipes."

Richard doesn't even look at the other man as he speaks, keeping his eyes on the action in front of him. "Have they shown any indications of remembering things?"

"No, sir. Both are under the impression they were injured during separate missions and have been reassigned here."

"And they believe this?"

"Absolutely. They never waver from what we implanted. We wiped and replaced most of her life outside -- just used another deceased X's mission parameters. As a precaution, the lab boys think they erased most memories of X5-493, since he is 494's clone. 494 was much easier -- only three years erased -- also replaced with a deceased Xs missions."

"Then do it. I guess we'll find out if the wipe worked shortly. If they recognize each other, shoot them onsite."

"Yes, sir." He salutes and heads back into the building.

Richard waits patiently for Jacob to bring the two to him. This is the first time the memory wipe had been used on a transgenic; there had initially been some concern that the brain cells would regenerate, but if they were going to, they would have by now. He earned high praise from the top brass about turning 452 and 494, and he intends to keep them that way.

Finally, the two soldiers in question appear in front of him, at full attention ready. Apparently they didn't recognize each other, or he'd be looking at bodies.

"At ease."

As one they both relax slightly, widening their stance and staring at a spot behind him. Richard takes a moment to observe them, silently; they don't look at each other or give any outward sign of knowing each other. _Excellent._

"State your designations," he clips.

Both respond without hesitation, stating their Manticore assigned numbers, still not looking directly at him. 

"Excellent. Since you both have been transferred here recently, I'm going to assign you as training partners and place you in the same unit, understand?" He is taking a serious risk by exposing them to each other on a daily basis. But the only way to be sure the procedure works is to see if their memory returns. Besides, Richard is somewhat of a risk taker; he didn't have to assign them to the same unit, but he can't wait to see what happens -- or doesn't.

"Understood, sir." In unison, they respond.

"Good. Find your CO and get your assignments. Training starts tomorrow. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Again in unison, the salute and walk off, not even turning to each other on the hundred yard walk to the barracks.

_This may have worked better than I imagined._

494 lay in his bunk, staring at the ceiling -- the fact that all the lights are off doing nothing to hamper his vision. He is excited about getting back to training after recovering from a mission that went sideways. Ready to get back into action. 494 hates being idle for any period of time, always more content with having something to occupy his mind. He thrives on the routine of Manticore, always has.

Despite this, he has a nagging feeling that something is not exactly right. It all started when he first saw 452 in the hall earlier…..

_He was waiting patiently in the hall, leaning against the wall when he sees another transgenic heading toward him._

_Medium height, long brown hair and almond eyes; she had to be the most exotic of the human X series he had ever seen. She walked with confidence as all X5's do, that air of superiority always around them. _

_She had stopped directly in front of him, and he had made eye contact. He knew her -- how, 494 didn't know, but he KNEW her. They'd never been on a mission together, of that he is sure, but there is something hauntingly familiar about those deep brown eyes. Something that tugs at his brain. But there is something else: she instills in him a certain sense of fear, not OF her, but because of her. A feeling that he needs to keep these thoughts to himself, that she could be the death of him if he doesn't._

_He had narrowed his eyes at the woman, and wondered if she was having the same feelings. If she did, she was giving no outward indication. Her face stone, emotionless. _

_Something about that expression bothered him. _

Even lying here in the dark, 494 can't recall what exactly had bothered him about her typical-for-Manticore expression. It had seemed…unnatural to him.

'Why?' he thinks to himself, and turns his head in the direction of her bunk -- seeing only the back of her head, her hair splayed out behind her.

Green eyes. That had been the first thing she noticed about the male transgenic leaning so casually against the wall. Deep, beautiful green eyes -- the kind you could get lost in. Now that man, 494, is her training partner. Not a bad deal in 452's estimation. Not that Manticore made an ugly soldier, but he is by far the best looking she had ever seen. 

Why did she feel such guilt about appreciating his looks? 

452 rolls over on her bunk and catches 494 watching her out of the corner of her eye. Something inside of her screams and she turns away, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach. 

Now, why did looking at him bring a sense of dread?

tbc………………….


	9. Aquariums

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 9

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: This one is pretty short and it may be a bit for another update, the holidays and all. I need to give my beta a little break anyway. She so deserves it. Plus I'm starting a new job and wont be at the computer as much. 

Again, thank you for the lovely reviews, I love reading them! Keep it up!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 9: Aquariums

494 had finally fallen asleep somewhere around 2 am, so when the 6 am alarm sounds, he is a little groggy, but awake and ready to go.

After a speedy breakfast that barely appealed to him, 494 reports to the outside training area to find his partner already there and stretching along with some other X5's he hadn't met. Easily, he gets into training mode, surprised that his body has healed so well after the internal injuries he sustained during the last mission. It feels to him like he never stopped exercising, instead of being in intensive care for two months. 

_'Cause you weren't.  _The thought comes, unbidden, and he dismisses it as the training instructor tells them to pair off.

Twenty minutes later, he is practically bouncing on his heels, waiting his turn to get onto the mat and duke it out with 452. So far, three other pairs had gone at it, and he is getting antsy.

"Stop that," she hisses at him under her breath so only he can hear her.

"What?"

"Stop bouncing up and down. You're making me seasick."

Immediately he stops, and hears a few relieved sighs from the other Xs in the audience. 

Finally, one of the transgenics on the mat pins the other, and they are dismissed -- the instructor making notes about their techniques. 

"494, 452. You're up!" he shouts, and 494 eagerly steps onto the blue mat, sensing 452 right behind him.

"Assume fight position." the instructor barks, and they follow orders -- standing knees slightly bent facing each other, staring into each others eyes. Slowly, they start circling each other, waiting for the whistle to indicate the beginning of the exercise.

494 licks his lips, but doesn't break eye contact. 452 cracks her knuckles. Both unclear why they feel the need to beat the hell out of the other and win. The point to these exercises isn't to win exactly, but to learn where your weaknesses are and improve on them. 

Then the high squeal of a whistle permeates the air, and 452 is the first to move, bringing a forearm with within centimeters of his face before he blocks it, and sends a fist toward her head. She easily intercepts it, and counters with a kick to the stomach. He grabs her foot at the last second and pushes her into a back flip. 

452 lands expertly, and comes back to fighting stance -- an angry expression on her face. They do half a circle again before starting another flurry of arms and hands, only visible to the others watching because of their enhanced vision. Neither one of them landing punches, they always seem to be one step ahead of the other, anticipating each other's moves. 

Finally, he lands a punch across her face, but pulls away slightly. She takes the chance and returns the favor, punching him hard in the stomach. He steps back, but returns, hitting her squarely in the solar plexus, then again in the side. She responds by kicking his feet out from under him and sitting on his chest.

Again the whistle blows.

Both the transgenics stand quickly at attention, waiting for the instructor to say something; to 494, he seems to be gathering himself. 

"Well, that was impressive. I guess neither one of you have missed a step." He pauses and looks at 494. "Why were you holding your punches?"

"I'm sorry, sir?" 494 is honestly confused.

"You were holding your punches when you finally got one in. You should have had her down with the hit to the chest."

"Yes, sir."

"You're done -- back in line."

"Yes, sir." They both respond and step off the mats and back into the circle of observers.

494 avoids looking at her; instead, he replays the fight in his head. He HAD held his hits, not going at her full force. Why would he do that? This is a place where screwing up costs you dearly. And yet there he was, not using full force when it is expected.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Days later, he finds himself in the water tanks. The place he remembers dreading as a child. They want to check his lung capacity after surgery they told him. Easing into the tank, he places one foot in the ring at the bottom to keep himself submerged. As soon as his head had gone under, the counter had started -- he can just see it outside the tank.

Closing his eyes, he allows his brain to wander. The past few days of training have made him suspicious about the circumstances of the mission he supposedly was on. Despite being in intensive care for two weeks, and being transgenic, 494 figures he should be sore, maybe a little slower than usual. But he's not -- he is more on top of his game than ever. He noticed the other day sparring with 452 in their limited free time that he had picked up some not exactly Manticore-taught moves. 

Plus, he had no external scars to speak of; he heals fast, but not that fast. Something in his head doesn't add up, but he doesn't dare speak up and ask questions. That's a guaranteed trip to Psy Ops, and after his twin escaped, he spent enough time there.

Then there is her -- 452. Every time he is with her, that feeling of fear settles into every bone in his body. Sometimes when she looks at him, he thinks he sees a similar expression on her face. But along with fear there is something else, something he can't define, something….familiar.

Looking at the clock, he is surprised to see the four and a half minute mark slide by and he isn't even hurting for air yet. _This isn't right. _Again, his mind wonders if someone a mere five weeks out of intensive care should be able to do this. _No, they shouldn't._

Again, he takes in his surroundings, looking for what he doesn't know exactly.

_Oversized aquarium, that's all this is. _He contemplates the humor in that -- a human trapped in an aquarium, with rocks and a water dish. Being fed on its master's whims. _Wait….Don't lizards live in aquariums…….?_

"Mole!"

Mole jerks out of his half sleep and sits up in his (no, Max's) chair. "Yeah?" He gets out, thankfully not sounding as sleepy as he is.

"I think we have a problem."  Mole's partner in running this dump announces, as he flashes by his (no, Max's) office.

Quickly, the lizard man is out of his chair and following to the computer monitors that show the various security cameras across the compound. A security system that had been set up by Alec….

"What?" He asks and tries not to be obvious about rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"All the reports from the recon teams are in. There's no sign of them. Nothing. They've seen White, but nothing else. The Familiars seem to be…oddly quiet."

"Dammit. Tell them to keep watch, Whites a cagey little bastard. Make sure they follow if he leaves anywhere."

"Will do." Dix replies and transmits the instructions to the teams.

Mole stares at the area around him, considering the idea that Max and Alec may actually be dead.

tbc……………Happy Holidays!


	10. Do I Know You?

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 10

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: I simply cannot thank you guys enough for all the fabulous reviews, I love them all. I read them all. I'm so glad y'all are enjoying this fic! It thrills me!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 10: Do I Know You?

494 rolls over in his bunk, thrashing slightly in his sleep.

_A car explosion.___

_Terror.___

_A…girl, on the ground.___

_A tombstone.___

_A man holding a gun on him, 494 tied in a chair. _

_494 screaming at him to do it, end his miserable life._

_Despair._

_Another girl, in black.__ Taking out the man with the gun._

_Relief flooded with disappointment._

_Her.___

_452._

494 sits up quickly in bed, breathing hard -- cool beads of sweat running down his back, staining his grey t-shirt. _What the HELL was that?_ he wonders, and looks around to see if anyone in his unit had noticed him.

No one had; all the other X's were sleeping peacefully. Here in the barracks, the transgenics slept hard, very little waking them from slumber except the wake up alarm. 

Taking a few moments, he breathes in slowly through his nose. 494 can feel his heart racing, pounding in his sensitive ears. Finally calming his heart and breathing, he slides back into bed, taking one last long look around. This time, he sees 452's eyes on him.

Her eyes are emotionless for the most part, but there's something there, something behind that mask. He can just see it at the edges of her eyes, but can't define it. Sighing to himself, 494 slides down into bed, closing his eyes and hoping for a restful sleep.

Terminal City

Mole sits at the monitors and watches the police that have been outside TC since the beginning of this minor siege. As the months have passed, less and less cops have been assigned to watch the transgenic stronghold, and the human outcry over Manticore's creations has almost fallen silent. Most people in Seattle are now used to their existence and have just come to accept the transgenics as part of the landscape.

The transgenics haven't let their guard down -- that's asking for trouble -- but they have managed to lead a relatively quiet existence. With the exception of a few contacts of Alec's, no one would do business with them, leaving them to make "shopping trips" as the missing leader was fond of calling them. They always took these "trips" outside Seattle though, and never frequently enough for anyone to get suspicious. 

Dix snorts at the screen and voices Mole's confusion. "What they hell are they doing all of a sudden? Two years we've been holed up here quiet as can be, not bothering anyone and all of a sudden, this?" He waves his yellow-tinged hand at the screen. For no apparent reason, there has been an increase in the police presence outside the gates the last few days.

A dread-inducing thought comes to Mole's mind. "Maybe they know."

Dix turns to him. "Know? Know what?"

Mole just gives him a pointed look.

"Ohhhh. But…how? Besides its not like we are going to fall apart with two of us gone."

"I don't know." Mole pauses and chomps on his cigar a bit, unsure how Dix will take his next words. "I've been thinking about that night. When they…disappeared. We know they weren't taken by cops, FBI or a foreign agency."

Dix interrupts. "Which leaves White."

"Well, I've been thinking about that too, but there's been NO sign of them at White's location, or anywhere near the bastard. And you know that prick would keep them close and torture 'em a bit, but there have been no bodies carried out that we know of. Which leaves one option….Manticore."

"Manticore?" Dix's voice is incredulous. "Manticore's gone, man. Cauterized, remember?"

"Who says there aren't more sites? Come on, you really think the government would put all its transgenic eggs in one basket?"

Mole watches the other transhuman contemplate this. After several minutes of staring at the monitor, he speaks.

"Manticore."

"Yeah."

"But that means…someone gave them up. Someone on the inside."

This time more resigned. "Yeah".

Manticore

She stands with her back rigidly, inhumanly straight. They are being briefed on a surprise training exercise. She's always hated the surprise ones -- they were usually the most…intolerable. This one doesn't seem so bad… yet. 

452 sneaks a look at her training partner; he is standing the same way as her, looking forward, absorbing all the information the trainer is giving them. In the few seconds she dares to look at him, she takes in his handsome features: strong jaw line, high cheekbones, short dark blonde hair and those eyes. Those eyes that set off a niggling of something in her subconscious every time she sees them. As if the depths of green held some secret to be unlocked.

Snapping her head back, she hears the conclusion of the training exercise. It's pretty simple, honestly: eight groups of two start in separate locations in the forest surrounding the facility. The goal is to capture at least one of the transgenics from as many groups as possible, and return them to base camp. The team with the most captures in five hours wins. Of course, winning here simply means a nod of congratulations and a note in your field file.

Quickly, each group is called to the command tent and is given 30 seconds to memorize the map and get their starting coordinates. The games would start at dusk, each team expected to be at their location on time and get there unnoticed. 

After reading the map, 452 and 494 elect to wait it out, going into the woods at the last possible second, hoping that the other groups are already in position and waiting, not paying attention to them slinking to their area.

Arriving unmolested at their designated starting point, they both crouch into the brush, remaining stock still. There is another 15 minutes to dusk, and they pass the time in relative silence, with only an occasional hand signal passed between them to clarify their plan. They are in the large expanse of woods outside Manticore. Woods might be pushing the term though; mostly it's pine trees and assorted bushes surrounded by a ring of cornfields. It's warm for October, so they are only wearing beige T-shirts with their green camo. 452 can feel the sun on her back, warming her slightly. They are officially outside the chain link fence of the facility, with nothing between the transgenics and 'normal' society. Despite that, it doesn't even cross either of their minds to make a break for it. Why would they?

Finally, the sun starts to slip behind the horizon, and that's their cue to begin the game. 

452 turns to her partner and speaks quietly.

"Ready?"

_Motorcycles, two of them.__ She approaches on her own black one, splitting the men, giving each a glance._

_"Ready?" she asks._

_"I'm always ready," he responds, a smirk on his face._

_494?_

A hand on her shoulder snaps 452 out of the…dream? Had she fallen asleep? No, she rarely sleeps much to start with, much less on a training assignment. She gives 494 a strange look and swallows hard. _What the HELL was that?_

He gives her an equally strange look before speaking. 

"You ok?"

It was him, oh god, it WAS him in her whatever-it-was. On a green motorcycle, wearing a black leather coat and sunglasses. She can remember the smell of decay, the feel of the roaring engine under her body, the warm sun on her skin -- she can even feel the salt in the air from the harbor. If it was a dream, it was the most vivid one she'd ever had. She looks at the man next to her and nods slightly.

"Fine, let's go."

In short order, they had captured three single transgenics and one pair and brought them to Command. Currently they were stalking another pair, watching them carefully move through the forest. 452 and 494 are behind a small embankment, hidden from view by thick brush. They are also downwind from their targets; both can smell a small amount of fear coming from their prey. 

She looks at him and he gives her a hand signal, she nods.

_Another embankment, another time…._

_"You're on, pretty boy."_

The words came to her mind; they were hers. She can hear herself saying it, clear as day, in her head. Creasing her forehead, she tries to will more information, more of this…memory. Were they on another assignment together? If so, why couldn't she remember?

Suddenly she remembers where she is, and realizes 494 has moved into position slightly ahead and to her right. _Dammit__._ She gets up and leapfrogs him, moving ahead and to his left. Cat-like, they quietly do this a few times, always keeping their prey, and each other, in their sights. On the last move, they are practically within spitting distance of the other transgenics: the large male, X5-234, and the blonde, a slight female, X5-366. The plan is for her to take the female and for him to grab the male; it had worked once before.

Separating, they make noises on opposite ends of the forest, splitting their prey.

As 366 approaches her location, 452 rushes the other female, knocking her down in one swift move. Straddling the other X5, she is about to knock her out when a heavy body slams into her, forcing 452 off her prey and onto the cold forest ground.

She lets out a small grunt and looks up to see 234 now straddling _her_, sitting on her chest, constricting her airflow. Where is 494?

452 struggles, futilely. 234 outweighs her by at least 80 pounds, and even with her enhanced strength, she is no match for him. 

"Say goodnight, 452 -- gotcha," he hisses at her and raises a fist.

"It's never nice to hit a lady." A voice calls from behind 234 and the male turns just in time to see a large branch make contact with the side of his head.

He slumps over 452, smothering her with his weight, before 494 comes over and picks him up, throwing him like a rag doll to the ground next to her. She takes a moment to get her breath before standing and taking the hand 494 has offered her.

"Where's 366?" she asks and brushes pine needles from her camouflage.

494 points behind them, and she sees an equally unconscious blonde X slumped against a tree. "Lets get them to base camp. That's two pairs and three singles. We win."

He gives her a wide grin, and she starts at the expression…. Something so familiar about it. Then again, she's been paired with 494 for several weeks now -- of course his smile is familiar. _That's not why_, her subconscious taunts her.

Gathering herself, she walks to the blonde. "Yeah, we win. Lets go."

They are silent the entire walk back, a longer than expected walk due to the weight of the unconscious X5, making 494 move slower than usual. Finally, they arrive in base camp and brusquely dump their capture at the feet of their handler.

The human looks at them with surprise and checks his watch.

"That's a record, 452 and 494. Three singles and two pairs in under four hours. Congratulations, head to the showers, then the training room for debriefing."

"Aye, sir," they say in unison, and head toward the barracks.

As they approach the large grey building, she looks around to be sure no one is near them before turning to her companion.

"Have we been on missions together before?" she asks, quietly.

He gives her an odd look. "No, I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

She lets out a frustrated sigh. "No reason. See you at debriefing."

"Yeah, ok…" he says to her back as she heads to the female locker area. 

_She feels it too. What happened to us?_

_tbc__…………………….._


	11. Frustration

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 11

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Again…thank you, thank you all for taking the time to review. Reading them makes me so happy!

AN2: Regarding Max's POV, someone asked me if we will get it. My answer is not really. The fic is like 85% Alec POV with Max's thrown in when needed. I tend to write from just one POV, its easier that way. Some good Max stuff coming up soon though!

And man, is it tricky when writing to type 494 and 452 instead of Alec and Max…I had to like triple check to make sure I didn't screw up anywhere!

Enjoy!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 11: Frustration

"No…Logan…I…" Mole sighs and looks at the other transhuman in the room, rolling his eyes slightly. "I really don't think that's necessary, besides it's a bit dangerous for you….No, I understand, really I do, but since you can't stay here….Yeah, exactly. Can you just try and get that info for me? Dix and Luke came up empty. Yeah, hospitals- VA, mental, the regular ol' kind. West Coast first, probably. Anything…Thanks man. I'll let you know."

Softly, he hangs up the phone and looks at Joshua, sighing yet again. The dog man looks at him curiously, sniffs the air and then speaks.

"Logan worried."

"Yeah, big man. Logan's worried."

"Logan will find Max, Alec."

Standing, Mole places a hand on Joshua's shoulder, patting lightly. "I hope so, Josh, I really do."

The large lizard man walks into central command and looks around. Not much has actually changed in the seven weeks since their leaders went missing, presumably dead. TC runs along pretty well on its own, and it has for a while now; they are just there to basically solve problems that come up. Everyone, with the exception of himself and Dix, still do the same jobs they always have. 

Walking to the bank of monitors, he looks at the increased police force. They've been there close to a week now, just…watching. No one from the other side has attempted to contact them, and the transgenics inside the city haven't even acknowledged the sudden sign of force outside their borders. Mole knows this is just the beginning, of something, but he isn't sure what. He just hopes if Max and Alec are alive, they can find them first. Negotiating never was part of Mole's repertoire. 

He looks at the rat-man on the graveyard shift watching the system. There is always one person watching the monitors, and there has been since day one.

"Jason, how's it going? Any movement?"

"Not a thing, the pigs are just…there."

Mole nods, and eyes Jason slightly. Something didn't add up for Mole about this kid, and the rat is on his short list of suspects in Max and Alec's disappearance -- a list that only he and Dix are aware of. Carefully, they'd been doing surveillance on all their suspects, slowly eliminating them. But this one….he stays on the list. Working the graveyard, he would have been in the command area when the final discussions about the raid went down. Given his transgenic hearing, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he could have heard them. Especially with his rat DNA.

Turning to Dix's office, he closes the door and relays the conversation with Logan.

The smaller man sighs. "I knew he would help, I just didn't know where else to look."

"Not your fault, man. Hopefully Log boy can scare up something." Mole pauses and looks at the door. "Anything?"

"I might have something about our favorite transhuman." They both know he is talking about Jason, they just don't use his name for fear of being overheard. Dix grabs a piece of paper and quickly writes:

_Couple of the 6's saw him before the raid near the fence. Thought he was on a phone, but they couldn't be sure, he was hidden real well in the shadows and they were in a hurry._

"Good, excellent. I'll follow up."

She is grinning evilly at him and 494 wonders what is going on in her head. They were currently doing their daily run; the two transgenics had gotten in the habit of running together, usually ahead of the pack. After her question the other day, neither had spoken of the weird vibes they got around each other.

Actually, they were not exactly weird vibes, but a comfort with each other that they can't explain, considering their limited exposure. He relaxes around her, and he can tell she does the same with him. That is most certainly not Manticore-taught behavior, because you don't get attached to anyone in here. But he has become attached to her, and in a hurry.

Again he looks, and this time she has the proverbial "cat that ate the canary" expression.

"What?" he asks, without breaking stride or a sweat.

"I heard we might be getting sent out on a mission."

That almost made him stop in his tracks. "Already?"

"Apparently the higher ups were impressed with our capture exercise results." She shrugs, but continues to grin.

"Yeah. I just…I wasn't expecting so soon after failed missions."

Again she shrugs at him. 

He regards her carefully; he wants to talk to her about his misgivings about Manticore's story, but he isn't sure if she will run to their handler. So he starts slowly. "How did your debriefing go?"

"Debriefing?" She glances at him before looking back at the others. "Damn, 494, we are at least half a click ahead."

He ignores her last statement, not caring; he's fishing for information. "After the failed mission, didn't you get debriefed?" 

Her expression changes swiftly to confusion. "I know I must have, but for the life of me I can't remember. Maybe they did it before I went into medical."

"Maybe."

She gives him a strange look. "Why? What's going on?"

"Nothing," he says curtly, and stares straight ahead.

"Not nothing. You're hiding something, I can tell." Her voice is hard, somewhat annoyed.

Now he stops and she does the same. "_How?_ _How_ can you tell, 452? I've only known you for a few weeks."

"I…we are trained in observation and you know it." She glances behind her. "We better get moving before the pack catches up."

He grabs her arm before she can start running again. "_Think_ about it. It is really training?"

With that, he releases her arm and starts moving. After only a few seconds, he hears her footfalls on the blacktop track and then sees her fall into step with him. She doesn't say anything, but he can practically see her contemplating his words.

Olivet looks at the mission parameters and smiles. Perfect. It's a perfect way to test them.

494 watches the two X5s in the ring. They are really going at it -- blood is practically pouring from the blonde one's temple. Some of the X's had gotten together in the training room and decided to have a little boxing contest to see who was the best. The handlers didn't really care. As long as no one ended up dead, they considered it good practice. Since those with upcoming missions were excluded, that left eight males and three females to beat the hell out of each other for bragging rights.

494 has already knocked his first round opponent- a smallish male- to the ground in damn near record time. Now he's standing in the crowd, bopping and weaving in unison with the combatants in the ring, really getting into the game.

He had tried to find 452 earlier when they realized they had an uneven number (and more men than women), but the brunette was nowhere to be found. 494 can only hope she considers his words, 'cause the more he thinks about it, the more convinced he is that Manticore is pulling a fast one on them; he's just not sure what it is yet.

He is aware of her presence mere seconds before her small hand lands on his forearm, pausing his jabbing motions. 

"Hey! You're here! We were short a man, so there's one more group in this round, if you wanna jump in," he tells her, enthusiastically. 

"I don't think so. I've been thinking." 

Her serious tone causes him to stop moving entirely and look at her face. He is about to move to a more private area when the ringleader of this event spots 452.

"HEY! 452! We need another body!" he shouts over the ropes, as the transgenics who had been fighting exit the ring.

"Not interested," she says, and turns back to her partner.

"Come ON, 452! Get your ass up here -- prove a girl can win. All the other ones are out already."

"I…" She stops and considers this for a minute. _Why the hell not? _"Ok, I'm in."

"Don't do this," 494 hisses at her.

"Why not? I'm just as strong as you. You've fought, why not me?"

"I just…." He pauses, 494 but can't think of a rational reason for her not to fight. It's his instinct that's trying to stop her. While he is grappling with this sudden need to protect her, 452 has pulled away from him and enters the ring.

He watches with fear in his heart and has to restrain the irrational need to help her when the male in the ring with her swipes her feet out, and she lands with a thud on the mat. She is back on her feet quickly though, and attacking her competitor, kicking him hard in the side of the head, effectively ending the match and moving on to the next round.

Again, in the second round, 494 easily dispatches his competitor. He feels good in the ring, natural. And again, 452 does the same with hers. The same happens through the third and fourth rounds, and horror washes over him when 494 realizes he is going to have to fight her.

The ringmaster's voice resounds through the expansive training room. "Well folks, we have quite a show here. 494 and 452 are going to face each other in the final round. In fifteen minutes, the show starts!"

Pushing through the crowd, 494 easily finds 452 surrounded by the other females who had already been eliminated. Without a word, he grabs her hand and yanks her away, pulling her into an alcove.

"What the hell is your problem?" she spits at him.

"You…we can't do this."

"Why not? 'Cause I'm a girl?"

"No…" He pauses. "I…I don't know why, but we can't. I don't think I can hit you."

"Of course you can, you have before."

"That's training, this…isn't. I can't try and beat you. I can't willfully hurt you."

She tilts her head at him. "Why?"

"I…I don't know!" he says, frustratedly, and throws his hands up in annoyance.

He is surprised when her warm hand touches his chest. "Then fight me. I can take it."

He nods solemnly, and watches her walk back to the other females. 494 honestly doesn't think he can do it, and yet again, he doesn't know why.

tbc………………..


	12. Smackdown

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 12

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Wow, again thank you all for the positive reviews and I wish I could thank everyone personally, but then half my fic would be me rambling about how you all rock so hard. So I'll just say it once…y'all ROCK! Keep up the reviews, you have no idea how they feed a writers soul. 

AN2: Mirella…heee again so many questions, all will be answered in time. And…who said the fic was over when they regain their memories? I have A LOT in store for our favorite transgenics. Just hang in there!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 12: Smackdown

He had taken the ring first, bouncing around like a kid hyped up on sugar, trying to rid himself of the anxious feeling that has settled in his stomach. If he wouldn't be mocked, 494 would quit right here…_though maybe being mocked wouldn't be as bad as feeling like I'm going to throw up_.

Licking his lips, 494 doesn't have long to contemplate bolting before she appears. Dressed in black pants and a tight black tank top, 452 jumps onto the edge of the ring, pushes the ropes aside, enters the ring…

…and pauses.

She stares at him. He's wearing just a pair of loose training shorts, chest bare, looking at her, confused. 

_A cage, not a ring.___

_People -- lots of them, screaming.___

_"You wouldn't take a dive. Now I'm going to have to beat your ass myself."_

She shakes her head slightly; that wasn't a dream -- that was a memory. Like the one before it, 452 can _feel_ it, as if it just happened yesterday. 

"Now I'm going to have to beat your ass myself."

She doesn't know why she did it, but something was screaming at her to test him, to see if he has the same memory. He responds almost without thinking…

"What do you have against me making money?"

494 stands, stunned for a moment. Where had that come from? He looks around to see if anyone else observed the odd exchange, but it seems that his transgenic brethren are too busy placing bets on them. 

_A cage.__ An announcer. Lots of people, dressed well, hooting and hollering at them._

_"What do you have against me making money?" he asked her._

_Someone…the announcer, asks her name._

494 tilts his head at 452, as she looks at him with a perplexed expression on her face. What is her name? She has one…

_"She doesn't have a name. You know what? She's not here. She's not fighting," he spits back at the announcer._

_She gives him a defiant look. "Oh yes, I am."_

He's so close to remembering something important -- it's right there. All he can do is stare into her dark eyes and press his usually infallible memory. And then the ringmaster's voice cuts through his thoughts.

"Ready? Fight!"

*~*~*~*~*~*

She's tired. Really, really tired. 452 is about ready to just hit the mat and call it a fight. But a good solider doesn't do that…ever. So she squares her shoulders and blocks yet another of 494's punches. _Apparently he's over the whole not-being-able-to-hit-me thing._

They had been going at it for nearly twenty minutes, each getting in some good, solid blows, not enough to cause serious damage, but enough to stun the other person. She is currently sporting a split lower lip, and he has a matching wound above his left eye. 

_SHIT!_

She ducks a fist and returns in kind, making contact with his hard stomach muscles. She can hear him exhale harshly.

With every punch that goes by, she can hear the crowd getting louder and louder. They want a winner. And she wants this to end.

From her crouched position, she bolts upright, bringing a fist into the bottom of his jaw. 494 staggers backward, and she attacks again, getting in a flurry of blows to his head and chest. But he just won't go down. Stepping back, she is about to go after him again, when a solid foot catches her in the abdomen and propels her backwards across the ring, coming to a stop when she hits the ropes.

Gasping, she slides down; the wind has been knocked out of her, along with the fight. Looking up, she sees 494 towering over her. Instead of looking happy that he won, he looks…sad. The ringmaster comes over and raises his hand, announcing him the winner in the longest fight yet.

He grins at the crowd for a moment, relishing in the win before looking down at the woman still sitting on the ring floor. She looks…beat down, for lack of a better term.

After several minutes, once most of the crowd has cleared out or are busy collecting winnings, 494 kneels in front of her, and pushes some hair behind her ear that had come loose from her braid. 

"Come on," he says, and reaches out a hand to help her up. 

Initially she eyes him with skepticism, before placing her small hand in his, and accepting the assistance. As she regains some footing, he helps her out of the ring and heads towards the shower area, one strong arm wrapped around her midsection for support. As they walk, he can feel her start to gain some strength back, pulling away from him slightly, but never leaving his embrace.

There is an air of tension surrounding them, neither wanting to discuss what happened before the fight. Manticore had done _something _to them, to their memories. 494's emotions run rampant; he is feeling, anger, resentment, confusion, and fear, unequivocal fear of retribution. 

"Maybe we were on the same mission that went sideways," she says, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, a mission," he agrees, with more confidence than he feels. _But if these are just mission memories, why do they have such an emotional side to them_? "Let's get you to the showers -- you could really use one."

"Thanks. But I think I'm good now -- I can walk myself." 

To prove her point, she pulls out from his arms and stands steadily.

"Good, see you for the morning run."

"Yeah. Good night, 494."

"'Night."

He turns and walks away from her, determined to figure out what's going on, without tipping off the brass. Again his subconscious is telling him to keep their little memory recall to himself, and he heeds its warning.

Mole has been following the rat transhuman for over a day now, and aside from some dubious hygiene habits, he is beginning to wonder if there's anything at all wrong with the guy. Jason has done what every other transgenic has done: gone to his duty station, done his job, ate, slept and started all over. The only difference is that Jason seemingly has no friends within Terminal City. He keeps to himself, rarely talking to anyone unless he is approached first. 

Mole is about to give up, when the little critter slips behind a dumpster on the outskirts of TC and the lizard can hear him talking, probably on a cell phone since Mole can detect no one else in the area.

Standing stock still, he attempts to listen in on the conversation.

"NO!" He can hear Jason, but not the other person on the phone. "You promised….Yeah, it's here, but what good does it do me?……Fine, but you better hold up your end of the bargain. You promised me, if I get found out here I'm as good as dead…..Yeah. Goodbye."

By the time he hears the phone close, Mole is so infuriated he could rip the smaller man to shreds. Instead, he waits for Jason to walk toward him before stepping out from his hiding spot around the corner, stopping the other transhuman in his tracks.

"Bang, you're dead," he says calmly, and points his ever present shotgun literally at the rat's heart.

tbc…………this one is kinda short, so probably you'll get another chapter sooner than later. Depending on the work schedule. Sigh. Dang work.


	13. Beacon Hill

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 13

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: This ones a little longer and starts….well you'll see.

AN2: Thank you for the thirteenth time for all the reviews; this is one of my best reviewed fics ever. So keep it up everyone!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 13: Beacon Hill

Instead of heading for his morning run, 494 is instructed to go to the Director's office. When he arrives, he notices his sparring partner standing at ease outside the door, obviously also waiting for Olivet. 

Easing up to her, he says nothing, but notices that any marks from last night are all but faded; only a small cut on her lip is visible. She also seems to be ignoring him -- 452 doesn't even turn her head to acknowledge his presence. Staring at the wall, 494 is now worried that she said something to the Director about their seemingly shared memories, something he wanted to keep to themselves. _Well, maybe you should have mentioned that to HER, you idiot._

"You suppose we are in trouble for the fight last night?" Her voice startles him.

"Not likely, they do it all the time here." He looks her up and down. "And neither of us seem to be the worse for wear." _Did she say something? Anything? Maybe to another X who told on them. Dammit, what the hell where you thinking, 494, never…_

"I didn't say anything to anyone about…yeah."

_Whoa, is mind reading in her "cocktail"?_

"I…I didn't think you had," he stammers.

"Yes, you did. I could…feel it." Finally, she turns to him, and whispers so only he can hear her. "What did they do to us?"

"I don't know. But I think we need to find out." He pauses. "And we need to keep it on the DL -- just you and me, ok? Maybe it's nothing, but if it's something….I don't want to end up in re-indoctrination."

"Agreed."

He smiles at her and returns to staring at the opposite wall. They remain silent until they are escorted into the Director's office, standing at attention in front of his desk.

"494 and 452 as requested, sir!" 494 spits out, quickly.

Olivet regards the X5s carefully; they seem to be getting along well, but not too well. They are at the tops of all the training exercises and classroom activities. They are becoming the soldiers they would have been had they not escaped three years ago, much more quickly than he anticipated. Their handler has reported there is no indication their memories are returning, although they could be hiding that from him. Olivet doesn't trust them one bit, so he has kept them on a relatively tight leash until now. Now he will really test them.

"I have an information-gathering mission for you. It's a two person operation, but relatively simple. Should be easy enough after your last blown assignments." He pauses, and opens a file folder. "You'll drive to a small city outside Seattle, Washington."

No response from either of them. Good.

"A company called AmGen is located in Beacon Hill. They are getting dangerously close to being able to reproduce Manticore's efforts, but we aren't sure how close. We want you two to go in and copy part of their database. We have a man on the inside who is going to hold up the guard rotation at 2 am tomorrow morning. You'll have approximately 20 minutes to retrieve what you need. All the mission specifics are in the file. You dispatch at 1700 hours. A convoy will get you to within 10 clicks."

"Yes, sir!" They snap in unison, and exit the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ten clicks my ass," he mutters, stepping over another downed tree. "More like 15. Man, the quality of Manticore's intel is getting poor."

"Shut up and walk, would you?" she snaps without turning to him.

494 is walking a few paces behind her, somewhat cranky that their intel was…off. They would be adding another 20 minutes to get to the destination at this rate. They don't want to risk running the last five miles since they are on AmGen grounds, and blurring might cause them to miss a security measure and set off alarms.

He trots a few paces to catch up to her. "Yeah, yeah."

494 looks up into the clear night sky; there isn't a cloud to be seen, and out here where the only lights were the few from the darkened facility, you could see for miles. That is, if they weren't surrounded by trees of the great Northwest. A hand on his chest stops him.

"We're here. Which building?"

Instantly, he reverts into to solider mode, recalling with perfect precision the layout of the facility. "Northeast most. So…there." He points to a 10-story-tall building nearest them.

"Let's go."

Silently, the two transgenics approach the fence surrounding a relatively small five-building campus. 494 looks at his watch: 1:40, they are right on time. According to their source, their location is at just the right angle to not be covered by the security cameras, but the cameras stationed to either side of them at the corners might dissuade a regular burglar. The two transgenics easily jump the eight-foot electrical fence, and wait on the other side, watching the north camera carefully.

When the green light blinks, the two rush across the lawn, coming to a stop at the base of the building they want. Quickly, they look around for something to climb up the side -- a drainpipe, electrical conduit, anything. Zooming in, she sees something that will work, and signals 494 to follow her. 

He is standing right beside her now; there's almost no space between them. She shudders slightly at the feel of his body that close. She felt like this last night too, when he helped her to the showers. His presence making her feel, something she hasn't done in a while. 

"Tell me you brought a rope," he whispers, and stops -- looking at her.

Suddenly, another memory hits, and she closes her eyes -- this one almost causing her pain as it rips through her mind.

_It's daytime. They were standing at a drainpipe of some kind. He was standing beside her; they were both looking up in frustration -- they needed to hurry. She's waiting for them, waiting to be rescued. They need to get up there before he opened the door._

_"Tell me you brought a rope," he asked with no small amount of sarcasm. _

_"Just shut up and climb," she responded, and started up, with him right behind her._

"452? You ok?" he asks, quietly. Her face is contorted in pain and confusion.

Finally, her eyes open. "Why…did you say that?"

"What? The rope? I don't know -- it just came out."

Her face loses the emotion and becomes a blank slate. "Just climb, ok?" she says shortly, and begins to shimmy up the side of the building, hanging onto small spaces in the facing for balance.

"Yeah," he says, and follows her quickly.

Despite the distraction on the ground, they arrive to the roof on time. They have three minutes before the guard should exit the floor. They are entering through a janitor closet two doors down from the executive office where they are accessing the information. That 20 minutes should give them enough time to get in, get the info and exit the same way. 

They easily pry off the vent cover and crawl through a small heating duct ending in the closet. There isn't a lot of room to move with him standing behind her, and 452 is having a difficult time ignoring the heat from his body pressed against her back. She can even smell him in the small area, and a warm feeling rushes over her. This is so familiar, so…comfortable. She resists leaning back into him, and instead adjusts her ponytail -- anything to distract herself. She can hear the guard down the hall, shuffling his feet, coughing, pushing papers around, doing whatever it is he is overpaid to do.

494 looks at his watch and indicates one minute with his fingers. She nods and waits, rolling her neck slowly to ease the tension. His voice in the dark startles her.

"Star Wars."

"What?" she hisses.

"Have you ever seen it?"

"I…don't think so. Why?"

"Don't know, just thought of it."

"Time?" she questions.

"Thirty seconds."

She nods.

Thirty seconds later, they open the door to find the hall clear; the guard they had heard earlier had gone somewhere. With little effort, they move to the office. 494 accesses the computer, swiftly copying file after file. She stands at the door; it is open just enough for her to keep an eye out.

"Almost done?" she asks, quietly.

"Two minutes, I'm copying the last file. Still clear?"

"Clear."

Several minutes later, he announces he is done, and they retreat the same way they got in. They completed the mission with five minutes to spare. Easing out of the vent and back onto the roof, 452 takes a minute to enjoy the clear view; she can see Seattle to her left, the bright lights like a mirage in a desert. A dark shadow over the city catches her attention, and she zooms in on the structure.

The Space Needle.

_She loved it here. The height. She can see the whole city. Be alone._

452 closes her eyes tightly against the sudden rush of memories.

_Alone on the disk, the wind whipping through her hair._

She sinks to her knees, feeling 494 touch her shoulder, but she can't acknowledge him -- the pictures are running through her mind too fast.

_He, 494, is there with her. Inside, she cuffs him to a pole._

_"…You're hiding your instincts, every minute of every day, so no one will know what you really are. A soldier...a hunter...a killer," he hissed at her._

_"Shut up!" she practically screamed._

_She punched him, hard. To shut him up. Blood, he's bleeding, he wiped it off and grined at her evilly._

_"See? What'd I tell you?"_

452 lets out a gut-wrenching sob -- it's not the memories attacking her senses anymore, it's the emotions associated with them. 494 is urging her to get moving -- they have to get out of here, or else they will get caught. She can hear him….

_She's sitting on the disk. It's crisp, but not cold. She can sense him there…_

_"I come here to be alone," she snapped at him._

Not the same person. The first 494 was cold, evil, soulless -- nothing like the man she knows now. _Clones? _For a moment, she has forgotten where they are until his voice reminds her.

"452! Move it, solider. We have to go NOW."

She struggles to her feet, her head killing her….when it happens again. But this time, she remains standing.

_He sits next to her, bringing his knees to his chest, rubbing his hands against the chill. _

_"So, you got any deep thoughts you want to share? Any, uh, profound realizations about life?" His voice is soft._

_"Yeah, love sucks."_

As quickly as it started, it is over, and she leads the way back over the building. While before they were ahead of the game, now they are dangerously behind. If they don't put a move on, the camera will be back on before they can get to the fence.

Stealthily, they blur across the expansive lawn, coming to a stop at the fence not even a second before the blinking green light changes back to a solid light.

"Jesus, that was close," he hisses at her once they are a safe distance away. "What the hell was that about on the roof?"

"Nothing."

He stops walking and grabs her arm, roughly. "You're lying. You remembered something." His voice softens, as does his grip. "Tell me."

She pulls her arm from his grasp. "Yeah, ok. I remembered something. But…this time it hurt. The visuals were running through so quickly, I could barely grasp onto them. And when I did, I didn't like what I saw."

"What did you see?"

"Keep moving and I'll tell you. I'd rather not miss our pick up and end up walking to Idaho."

Once he starts moving again, she starts talking. "You…but it wasn't you. It was…weird, he looked like you -- twins or maybe clones. I know Manticore had a clone program. But I _knew _it wasn't you, the eyes were different. His were…lost, manic, evil, insane -- all that and more. Plus, the feeling I got from him was different. I loved him with my heart, but…more like a brother."

"I had a clone…493. I thought he was dead -- put down by Manticore when we were kids."

She pauses a moment to contemplate this. He just walks silently next to her.

"Then it was you, really _you_ up on the Space Needle. It was…different. That's when I knew the first time it wasn't…you. You were…my friend."

He contemplates her words the rest of the 30-minute walk to the pick up location. Manticore didn't allow 'friends' -- only training partners and unit mates. But you would never make the mistake of confusing that with friendship. 

Quietly, they get into the military-style Jeep that picks them up, and 494 hands over the disk he had copied to the handler. The older man places the disk in a laptop, and swiftly runs through the data.

"Nice job -- you got even more than we had hoped. I assume there were no problems."

The two transgenics don't even look at each other, before they respond in unison. "No, sir!"

"Excellent, you'll be debriefed upon arrival."

They nod and sink into their own thoughts for the seven-hour ride home, unaware they were so close to their friends and family.

tbc………………….


	14. Temperatures Rising

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 14 (RATED R)

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Thank you for the reviews, I LOVE reading them, it makes me so happy to see them in my in box everyday. I know its 14 chapters later and it hard to be original 14 times, but it really doesn't matter to me if you say the same thing every time, at least I know someone is reading my drivel. Thank you.

AN2: Please note the rating change for JUST this chapter. I cant tell you why, you'll find out soon enough. Bwhahahaha.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 14: Temperatures Rising

"Come on; just let me hurt him a little!" Mole asks.

"No! We need him alive if we are going to find them," Dix says, patiently. They'd been debating this for a solid 30 minutes. 

"He isn't saying anything, Dix. All he confirmed is he's the one that told. I won't kill him….promise. I know we need him to tell us where they are."

The smaller one regards his larger transhuman brethren and sighs. "Mole…If you kill him I swear to God."

"I'll get it out of him. I promise."

Mole jumps from his seat and heads into the basement of the building where they are storing their prize. Leaving his shotgun outside, he enters the cell and prods the rat-man awake.

"Wakey, wakey. We need to talk again, boy."

Slowly, Jason sits up, only to be grabbed into a standing position by the larger man. 

"This time, I'm not gonna be as nice, 'cause we've determined your no use to us. And unlike our X5 brothers and sisters, I got NO problem killin' one of my own." He licks his lips. "This is gonna be fun."

Jason looks at him with true terror written all over his rat face.

She's warm. Really warm. Despite the cool temperature of the early morning, 452 feels like she is burning up. As she opens her eyes, she recognizes the town around Manticore; she had fallen asleep during the ride, which was odd for her. There is a thin layer of frost on the ground -- obviously the temperature had hit freezing here during the night. 

She can feel the sweat beading down her back, leaving rivulets on her black tank top. She wipes her forehead, noticing her skin is hot to the touch. Pursing her lips, she looks at the driver of the Jeep.

"You got the heat set on "sun" or what, buddy?"

He looks at her, confused, and she glances at the dash. The heat isn't even on. It can't be greenhouse -- the sun is only barely over the horizon, and is mostly covered by clouds. Rolling her neck, she looks at the other occupants of the vehicle. She is sitting in the back with a still-sleeping 494, and her handler is in the front passenger seat. He gives her a strange look before turning to the driver.

"How long to Manticore?"

"Twenty."

Again he looks at her, and she shoots him an evil look back. _What is his problem? _

"Make it 10."

The driver nods, and increases the speed. 452 wonders what the rush is about…and then she gives her transgenic companion another look. His eyes are still closed -- he looks so…boyish, but handsome. Strong features, and a body to match. She allows her eyes to rove down his body, taking in the chiseled arm muscles, the six-pack abs she can see through his black T-shirt.

The heat coursing through her increases dramatically, as she pictures those arms around her, holding her down, those lips touching her all over, their skin pressed together. 

She watches as his long lashes flutter open, and meets his hazel green eyes dead on. 

His first sense to come alive is smell, as he pulls himself from the depths of sleep. He can smell something in the air, something…powerful. He is drawn to it, and opens his eyes to determine its origin. And finds himself staring into deep brown irises that are regarding him with predatory look. 

452. 

Carefully, he sniffs the air one more time before recognizing the scent fully. 

Heat. She's in…._ohhh__ yeah_.

The mental picture of her writhing under him comes unbidden to his mind. 

He returns her smoldering look and growls lightly at her, completely oblivious to the other occupants of the vehicle.

Unfortunately, his disregard of the humans leads to their inability to consummate what nature intended. Before they can get a hand on each other, a tazer shot to his stomach renders him unconscious. But before he goes out, he sees her shudder and slump into her seat.

"It was damn close, sir. Why weren't we informed that the female was approaching her heat cycle?"

"Because we didn't know, Johnson. Had we, we wouldn't have sent her out with another X male," Olivet hisses back, not pleased with this human's tone. "We got the information, and they are back in one piece. It was a success, now get out."

The handler looks at him before saluting and leaving.

Olivet turns in his chair. It had been close; if the two humans had tried to separate them any later than they did, then they probably wouldn't be alive to tell the tale. But this could also be a blessing in disguise. Currently, he has 452 locked in a containment cell and 494 is working off his testosterone in the yard, sparring with another male. He had reviewed their medical work up a dozen times, and now sees why Renfro paired them off: their genes are a perfect match. Their offspring would be…unstoppable. 

The only thing stopping him is the tiniest chance that putting them together would spark something in their memories. His contact, who has been unusually quiet, wasn't sure if the two leaders had gotten together while living in TC. According to his reports, they seemed to always be together, but it was ambiguous as to whether or not they'd mated.

Steepling his fingers, Richard weighs his options as Jacob opens the door. 

"Sir?"

Taking a deep breath, he barks his instructions to the younger man.

She is going insane. 452 looks out the small window in her cell and whines slightly. What she wouldn't give for a male right now, specifically that pretty boy partner of hers.

Ever since waking up in this hell hole, she's been alternately pacing her cell, doing sit ups and screaming out that window for a male. This is cruel and unusual punishment -- the heat is ever increasing, and just thinking about 494 is enough to send shivers through her body in anticipation. 

494. Naked. Their bodies pressed together, sweating…moaning.

_Oh god._

She drops and does another round of push ups. The sweat is practically dripping off her face, and she can feel the flush on her skin. Just as she is about to yell again, she hears the door open on the other end and instantly, she senses him. 

_Please, pretty please. I've been a good solider…._

She is practically chomping at the bit, when her cell door opens and 494 comes barreling through. Roughly pinning her against the back wall, his lips attack her neck and collarbone. 452 moans low in her throat, and presses into him. Writhing against his body, she can tell he is ready to go.

"Clothes," she hisses, and he backs up, quickly removing his shirt and hers -- leaving her in just a bra.

She can't resist him, and before he can unbuckle his pants, she attacks him -- dropping them both to the concrete floor, neither minding the hard stop. Pulling her hair back, she presses her lips against his chest, licking and biting as she goes along, leaving small red marks in her wake. This time, he lets out a sexy moan, and she brings her head to his, pressing her swollen lips to his, pushing for access to his mouth. He allows her in, and runs his fingers through her long hair, holding it back. 

He needs to feel her against him and pushes her back, which earns him a growl before he removes her bra with transgenic speed. This seems to sate her, and she rubs against him, whimpering lightly, causing him to buck against her and flip their positions.

Placing the tip of one finger at her collarbone, he pulls it down her dark skin over her breastbone, her flat stomach, coming to rest at the top of her pants. Looking at her slyly, he runs the finger back and forth across the band, taunting her. He can see her frustration growing, and before she reaches the boiling point, he undoes the button and removes the item, along with her underwear. Standing, he strips himself down, and looks at her beneath him, almost reverently, before hormones take over once again and he drops to her, pressing into her easily.

The initial feeling of him in her causes her to gasp loudly. But as he starts to move in her, she feels lightheaded. She grips onto his shoulder blades, breaking skin, moving with him, practically panting. She's never felt like this; not only is he satisfying her physical needs, but it seems like he is also filling an emotional hole. 

Increasing his tempo dramatically, his moaning only serves to heighten the warm feeling washing over her. She can feel it from her toes all the way through her body, and she hasn't even orgasmed yet. The concrete floor beneath her, digging into her skin, doesn't even faze 452; she ignores the pinpricks of pain easily. She feels like she is out of her body, again moving with him, pressing her body into his, wanting to be as close as possible, closer than they already are. She can feel him start to tremble above her, and when she opens her eyes and looks at him, he is shaking with restraint, waiting for her. In a few short minutes, he has her gasping for breath when an unexpectedly hard thrust has her screaming his name…

"ALEC!"

…And they both freeze.

tbc………………………snigger…hows that for a cliffhanger folks?


	15. Total Recall

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 15

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN1: I have NO clue what the trouble is uploading this chapter, I hope this time it works, if not, Im at a loss what to do honestly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 15: Total Recall

"ALEC!"

They stop all movement and pull apart -- their hormones and physical need forgotten with the revelation of his name. She looks at him with fear, and closes her eyes against the sudden onslaught of memories -- this time worse than before. It's speeding by so fast, one on top of the other….

_He enters her cell, and informs her they are breeding partners. _

_******************_

_She's in a cage. It's dark when suddenly he appears, brandishing a gun. And keys._

_"Alec!" _

_"To the rescue.__ Still wanna kick my ass?"_

_"Maybe later.__ Hurry up."_

_***************_

_A barn -- there are other, younger transgenics around._

_"Figures you would forget the one good thing Manticore ever taught us…never abandon your unit."_

_He walks away._

_******************_

_He's kneeling over her, she can't move, stunned. He shocked her._

_"I'm sorry. There's no other way," he mumbles, and pulls out a knife._

_"A-Alec"_

_"I don't want to die." His face, god his face. He doesn't want to._

_**********************_

_He's in her apartment, one arm wrapped around her, his lips on her hair._

_"Max, I'm sorry."_

_*********************_

_"We didn't get a signature!"_

_"I said let's go."_

_********************_

_"Be careful."_

_"Always."___

_****************_

_"I'm always all right."_

She scrambles away from him, grabbing her head in her hands, whimpering in pain. He approaches her, but is stopped dead in his tracks….

_***************_

_Her cell, a different Manticore.___

_"You should have a name too," she tells him._

_"I told you, my designation is 494." He smirks at her._

_She regards him. "Doesn't suit you, I'm gonna call you Alec."_

_"Alec?" he questions. This girl has him curious. She's unlike any other X5 he's met._

_"As in smart-alec."__ She has a rather self-satisfied smirk on her face._

_He purses his lips and contemplates this briefly. "I can live with that."_

_She smiles at him. "Good, 'cause my second choice was Dick."_

_He returns the smile with a tight one of his own. This girl has something; he is oddly drawn to her -- her fire, her life. He walks to the door and hollers, "Guard." 494, no  -- Alec, turns around with his typical smile. "See you around….Max."_

"Max….oh my…Max," he whispers, and approaches her slowly. She is still looking shaken. Her rush of memories seemed to be more painful than his. He just suddenly…snapped back; then again, he only had three years to erase. She had a lifetime. Pausing, he takes a second to at least get his pants on, and grabs the blanket off her cot, wrapping her in it. Sitting next to her on the floor, he puts one arm around her shoulders and pulls her lightly into his side; she fits almost perfectly. 

"You ok?" he finally asks.

She looks at him with a dazed expression, her heat forgotten. "I…I remember. I remember everything."

He nods and brings one hand up, touching her forehead, where the probes had been inserted into her skin weeks before. "Me too."

She starts shuddering slightly. "They took it away from us, Alec. They stole our lives."

"I know. Come on, let's get off the floor, ok?"

She nods, and they stand together. He looks away as she puts on her underwear and tank top, which really seems a bit ridiculous; he's already seen what Manticore gave her. Alec waits for her to crawl into the bed, then follows, spooning her body into his, and covering them both with the blanket. He can still feel the heat radiating off her body and can smell her, but for the first time in his life, he can resist it. Something about Manticore stealing your life tends to sober you up so you  forget about carnal pleasure, for the minute anyway. Besides, Alec may be a player, but he isn't about to have sex with her for the first time in a cell at Manticore. Maybe three years ago he would have, but not now.

_But, we practically DID have sex, _he admonishes himself. _Oh screw it, we'll get to that when we do. Bigger problems right now._

Wrapping his arms around her, he nuzzles his face into her hair, just taking her in for a minute. Even though they have spent practically all their waking hours together for the last two months, he hasn't felt like he has been with _her. _He was with 452. Not his Max.  _And…since when is she yours?_

For several minutes they are silent, until her quiet voice breaks through the darkened room.

"What's going to happen now?" It's not a tentative question; her tone is mostly business, and she wants a plan of attack. A way to escape.

He reaches up and starts stroking her hair lightly. "We continue to be dutiful soldiers, Max, until we can find a way out of here. Which I don't think will be easy, even if they think we are submissive."

"Agreed." She pulls away from him slightly, and rolls over, facing him. "Those bastards stole my life -- our lives. They replaced our friends, our family with…pretend missions, a pretend life. This isn't just a matter of escaping, Alec -- we have to destroy them. And not just this facility, we have to expose them for good. And I think we can do that best from the inside."

He regards her carefully, using his cat DNA to see her in the dark. "Max…are you sure? That means pretending to be what you hate, what you spent your entire life running from."

"I know."

"No, I don't think you do. What happens if they send us out on an assassination, Max? Can you do that -- can you kill someone who may not be a bad guy?" He runs one finger along her jawline, just relishing being with her. The last thought he had had as Alec was that he would never see this woman again -- never hear her laugh, be on the receiving end of a punch, share a quiet moment in the chaos that was TC. Now they are lying in bed together, plotting the downfall of Manticore…again.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it…but…" She pauses and sighs, the reality setting in. "..This is war and sometimes, there are casualties."

Leaning in, he kisses her forehead and pulls her tightly to him. He can feel her wiggling into him, trying to get as close as possible. Unfortunately, all she is doing is causing him to remember why he was brought to her to begin with. He can tell her pheromone level has dropped, but he can still smell it.

"Uhh, Max, would you stop…doing that?"

"What? Ohh, god, sorry." She instantly stills in his arms, her head tucked under his chin. "How long do we have?"

"I don't know. I imagine they will leave us alone for a while. But it won't be enough."

"You suppose they can see us?"

"Not if it's like it was before. Cameras made the mating partners….nervous. Decreased conception rates."

"Eventually they'll figure it out when I'm not pregnant, Alec."

"We'll figure that out when we get there. It's not 100% pregnancy -- closer to 92 or 95. Maybe they will just think we were part of the five percent. Maybe…"

He feels her nod. 

"When I'm gone, they will probably leave you in here. Heat can last up to a week, so tomorrow start whining, moaning, hollering for me…"

"Not a problem. I AM in heat, Alec. Just…not in the mood right now, given the givens." 

"…Good, very good. Besides, this isn't exactly what I had pictured for a first time. In a cold, dark Manticore cell."

She smiles at him, even if he can't see her. "Uhhh Alec, do I need to remind you what just happened on the floor?"

"I know…I'm just, choosing to ignore that for right now. That wasn't us -- it was 494 and 452.Different people."

She nods, and then tilts her head, as if remembering something. "You pictured a first time?"

"Yeah, well its not like we didn't want to, Max -- admit that. We just didn't have time with trying to run TC. So yeah, I did."

"Hmmm…well as I recall, you could have the first time we met."

His voice turns serious. "I'm not like that, Max."

"I know…." she whispers. "So what, I scream and they just…bring you?"

"Yeah, probably. Increases the chance of conception. Then we can try and figure this bitch out." He uses one of her favorite phrases.

"Good. We are going to need help though, Alec."

"I know….I know." He contemplates this; he had realized they would need serious help if they are going to bring down all of Manticore. But he can't exactly ask to use the phone either -- it has to be outside the walls. "We'll think of something. Come on, you've escaped twice -- can't be that hard…right?"

He feels her smile at that. "Yeah, piece of cake."

Again he kisses the top of her head, and turns serious. "I'm sorry, Maxie. I promised you that I'd get us out of here and I didn't. Jesus! We were what? Twenty clicks from Seattle and, like idiots, we came right back."

"We had no control, Alec -- we didn't know."

"We did, though; we were getting flashes of our real lives and we ignored them! Figured it was a mission gone bad. They screwed us up good."

She pulls away from him slightly, planting small kisses on his jaw. He can feel her skin start to heat again, smell the increased pheromones. "Shhhhh, we are back now. Together." Her tone is slightly seductive.

For a minute, he lets her continue the ministrations, her warm lips moving across his jaw and down his neck, her tongue dipping into the hollow at his throat before continuing across his collarbone, nipping at the bone slightly. Coming to a stop at his shoulder, she runs her tongue along the top until she reaches his neck, nibbling at the soft flesh. When she gets to his ear and sucks on the earlobe, he practically jumps out of the bed, pushing her away from him so they are on either side of the suddenly tiny cot.

"Max…we can't," he practically whimpers. He would do anything right now to be able to take her, to love her, but he can't, can't give into her. That would add a whole new complication they don't need. Plus…he just can't here.

Initially she ignores him, and eyes him like prey. "Max….please." His tone is pleading, desperate; he can't be the only one resisting, 'cause then he won't be able to. 

She stops. and he can hear her breathing through her nose, trying to calm herself. "I'm sorry, but….it's hard."

He nods, and in the background, hears a door opening. They are coming for him. 

"They're coming, Max." Much like that last desperate kiss in the van, he leans over and captures her lips quickly. "Keep up the act -- you're 452."

She nods, biting her lower lip slightly. "Got your back, 494."

Now he can hear footsteps and light breathing. They are closer, almost at the door. "Love you, Max."

Before she can respond, he gets up and pulls his shirt back on just as the door opens. He faces the guards with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Well, that was fun." He turns to her. "Hope to see you again real soon, 452."

And he disappears out the door.


	16. Hit That

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 16

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN1: Sorry about the muck up with chapter 15, I'm not sure what happened there. Hopefully this one goes better! Thank you everyone for your infinite patience, esp Hanna, I knew in an instant if it didn't work, I appreciate that. And yes, it ends with Alec walking out that door. And the fic is far from done.

AN2: Keep up the reviews, there are at least 9 chapters left to go and I need all the encouragement I can get to keep going. It's exhausting I tell you!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 16: Hit That

Mole walks into command and throws his shotgun down on the conference table, a pleased expression on his face.

"HEY! You wanna watch that? All we need is a round going off in here," Dix protests from his seat at the computers.

"Well, there's good and bad news."

"Oh, lord," Dix mutters under his breath.

"I heard that." Mole lumbers over to the smaller transhuman. "The good news is I know Manticore has them; there's some new guy they brought in to start the program over…by capturing the escapees. They are also most likely alive -- good ol' M is hard up for soldiers, so they are most likely re-indoctrinated."

"Great…tell me that was the bad news."

"Ahhh, no. The bad news is rat boy doesn't know where the new Manticore is. He has a secure phone number he calls." With that, Mole throws a cell phone to Dix. "It's only programmed for one number. Untraceable. I had one of the tech specialists look at it."

"Damn…. Well Logan hasn't found anything either -- there's no odd accounting at any medical facilities west of the Mississippi. But he's still looking." Dix fingers the cell carefully…contemplating.

Mole tilts his head at him; he can practically see the wheels spinning. "What are you thinking?"

Dix wiggles the phone. "I'm thinking we star 69 'em. I think I can put together a trace program and connect it to the phone."

Mole smiles slightly and narrows his eyes. "Excellent."

The next day, Max does as requested, hollering and moaning at her door for 494. This isn't like isolation -- there is a small window at the top of the steel door for her to look out and others to look in. It isn't a real stretch for her to scream for Alec; she is in heat and craving him anyway. She'd just about kill someone right then to get her hands on the other transgenic. 

Just thinking about it, she can feel her temperature rising -- the pull of desire coiling in her belly, and other places she'd rather not acknowledge right now. She can feel the flush on her face, the sweat starting to bead on her forehead. After Alec left last night, she had nearly gone insane. So close to scratching the itch, and they didn't complete the act, even if it was for a good reason. If her mind wasn't so hazy with wanting, Max would admit that it was probably for the best they didn't. Right now, though, all she can do is curse under her breath and resolve to scratch in the best way possible. Damn Alec's self-righteous behavior; she's getting what she needs. 

Growling, she sits on her cot and waits, not-so-patiently. Luckily, she doesn't have to wait long; she can smell him long before the guards bring him to her cell. Perched on the edge of the cot, she licks her lips as the door opens, revealing Alec to her, in all his masculine glory. He is dressed in tight black pants and an equally tight T-shirt, flaunting his perfectly engineered body. _Ohhhh__ yeah, he's mine._

Before the door can even shut behind him, Alec is virtually attacked -- pushed against the wall behind him. A small, female body pressed suggestively against his. She is currently pulling his shirt out from his pants and running her warm hands along his abs and up his chest. Alec closes his eyes briefly, and rests his head on the brick wall, allowing himself to get lost in her touch. 

"Aaaaalec," she whispers in his ear after practically sliding her body up his. 

When he doesn't respond immediately, she tries another tactic. Grabbing him by the hair, she pushes his head down to her and engages a brutal kiss. She is sucking his lower lip, pushing his mouth open to allow her to explore his mouth with her tongue, their teeth clashing lightly. It's erotic, sending him into a lull of some kind. He has forgotten this isn't the reason he is in her cell. Forgotten everything but the feeling of her lips on his, pressing, wanting, needing him. _Him._Wanting _him_ to release her from her heat, to….._Oh no no no no._

Finally, she pulls away and kneels in front of him, licking and kissing his abdomen as she undoes his pants. When cool air hits his thighs, Alec regains his senses, and places his hands on her shoulders, stopping her from removing any more barriers between them. 

"Max…stop."

"I don't want to. I need you, Alec. Please." She looks at him with pleading eyes, and for one second, he almost gives into her. How long has he wanted to hear those words, wanted to show her what a transgenic could do in bed. But in the end, his rational brain wins out.

"No, Max. Remember, this isn't what we want right now."

Her dark eyes flash at him and she stands. "The hell I don't. I know what I want, Alec, and that's you, pretty boy." Her face softens and she licks her lips lightly -- titling her head at him, her eyes smoldering. "Come on, baby. Show me what you can do. I've heard once you go transgenic, you never go back."

"No."

"Aleeeeeec," she pouts, and nibbles her lower lip. "I can make you feel things you never thought possible."

He swallows; Alec has no doubt she could. But now he realizes she isn't going to give up -- her hormones are pushing anything resembling rational thought to the back of her mind. As he is contemplating what to do, short of sleeping with her, Max is slithering closer to him, her hot breath on his neck, her fingertips sliding up his arms. 

_I don't have a choice, she'll regret it if we…damn. _

Leaning into her ear, he whispers, "I'm sorry, Max."

And promptly punches her in the head, rendering her unconscious.

It doesn't take Max long to regain awareness, but it takes her a bit longer to realize why she is lying on her cot and Alec is sitting on the floor across from her. 

_That asshole hit me. He actually HIT ME._

Sitting up, she fixes Alec with a death stare. "Why did you hit me?"

"I had to get you to settle down before we did something we'd regret. You have to focus, Max. I know it's hard to ignore nature, but use all that crap Manticore taught us and do your best. 'Cause otherwise there is no way we will be able to plan a way out of here. We won't get too many opportunities where they aren't watching us."

She knows he's right, and she takes a deep breath through her mouth, willing her heart to stop pounding and her breath to even out. Curious, she looks at her companion.

"Why aren't you….all over me? How come you've got such great control?"

Wiggling his nose and forcing air out his nostrils, Alec puts his hand up just in time to catch two flesh colored nose plugs. Giving her that patented Alec smirk, he places them back in his nose.

"This way at least I can't smell you." He pauses. "Well a little, but enough that I can resist temptation, so to speak."

"Nice. Thank you for knocking some sense into me-literally. I know I wouldn't have been able to stop you."

He gives her a small smile, and shares the plans he can now remember for escape. Of course, each plan has now been modified to include the destruction of Manticore, hopefully permanently. They quickly discuss each before either eliminating it or leaving it for later consideration. The only thing they know for sure is they have to contact Terminal City for help, and a lot of it.

After tossing out their last idea, Alec looks at her and sighs. He has managed not to think about her sitting mere inches from him, in heat and fully amenable to screwing him right there. Of course, now that they are out of ideas and distractions, he is hyper aware of her presence. Despite the nose plugs, he can still smell her slightly, and just the knowledge of her being in heat is starting to affect him. He allows his eyes to wander over her body, taking it in possessively -- the scrubs she is sporting doing nothing to dissuade him. 

_NO, no. Stop it! _he admonishes himself, and moves away from her, clearing his throat.

"Don't call for me again, ok? Try and sleep through the rest, cause I don't think I can do this again. While you're in here, I'll try and scope out a way to get a message to TC. Agreed?"

"Yeah, agreed." 

He can practically see her fighting the urge to jump him.

"Uhhh, I'm gonna go, _452_." He stresses her designation. They need to be careful; one slip and they're done for.

With that, he gets up and motions for the guards -- this time not even looking back at her.

Three Days Later

She is finally allowed out of the cell and the first thing she does is stretch her muscles. She had managed to sleep a good portion of the last three days, surprising even herself. Of course, it helped that in her dreams, Alec…no, 494…could touch her. 

The guard prods her toward the door at the end of the ward, and instead of giving him a dirty look, Max straightens up and heads back into the world, such as it is.

Which lasts all of 10 minutes. Before she can even make it to the showers, another of Olivet's lackeys intercepts her.

_They can't be testing me for pregnancy already, can they? _she wonders, but maintains her stone expression.

"The Director would like to see you now."

She nods and follows the squirrelly guy though the maze that is Manticore. He is the total opposite of Olivet's other assistant -- Jacob…she thinks his name is. Max has seen Jacob looking at her funny a few times, but never said anything. It was never unusual for the male brass to scope out the female soldiers. Creepy…but not unusual.

He holds the door open for her, and she breezes by, stepping into Olivet's office, and finding Alec already there.

_Ooooooh__, crap._ Her mental alarm starts sounding, and she discreetly starts checking out means of escape. _They figured us out, they found out about our memories. _While panicking inside, she exudes calm and business.

"452 -- reporting as ordered, sir," she says, and stands at attention.

"We went through the data you two recovered on your last recon and unfortunately, AmGen has far more data than we had anticipated. Three days from today, you will be returning to the facility to erase all the data and destroy the facility. Human casualties are considered collateral damage."

The two transgenics don't look at each other, nodding in unison_._

"This time, however, there will be four sets of two going in. You two will be responsible for data destruction, while the others take care of the facility and lookout. Review the file and consult your handler for final instructions."

"Yes, sir!" They snap at the same time and salute.

"Dismissed."

After 452 and 494 leave, Richard calls in Jacob to his office.

"Jacob, have one of the guards keep an eye on those two."

The younger man eyes his boss, warily. "Why? Do you suspect the wipe didn't work?"

"I'm not sure. They are just awfully comfortable around each other. They move in unison, they speak in unison -- it's odd."

"Sir, no disrespect, but they are soldiers; they are taught the same things. Their reactions should be in sync with each other."

"Well there's in sync, and then there is knowing someone so well you can read their mind. I've heard things from their trainers. They practically can't train anymore together because they never get hits in. Plus, they spend all their free time together. I just want someone to keep an eye on them -- please take care of it."

"Yes sir," Jacob says, and closes the door as he exits. A single thought flitting through his mind as he looks for the only guard he would trust with this duty: _shit._

They turn and walk out the door, only chancing a glance when they are out in the yard. Getting to a far corner, away from the other trainees, they start lightly sparring, hoping those around them won't attempt to listen in to their conversation.

"Dammit. Could've been the perfect chance to bolt. But if we do, the first place they'll look is TC, and who knows what they will do to the city. Plus, we can't take them down from Seattle," she starts, talking in a low voice.

"No, but I think this might give us an opportunity." He contemplates while blocking a hard right from her. "Hey! Watch it! We're pretending, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, wuss," she mutters, and swings again -- this time at his ribs. Again, he anticipates her. "What kind of opportunity?"

"The kind to get a message out. We can use the AmGen computers to send something to Dix."

"How? It's not exactly like TC is on the Internet."

He laughs lightly. "I just can see that, www.terminalcity.org. A place for people to learn about transgenics and hate them more. Ha! No, but remember Dix's email?"

She smiles, and sends a half-hearted roundhouse at his head. "Yeah….excellent."

Dix had managed to set up an email address specifically for suppliers and the like, completely untraceable, and hidden from the IP provider. The things that he nomally could do with a computer rivaled Logan, and in some cases, surpassed Eyes Only's talents. Only a select, trusted few had access, and it wasn't linked into the other TC systems in the event that someone did hack in and try to shut the city down.

He sweeps her feet from under her, and lands on her chest, pinning her down. Even with her heat over, Alec still need to feel her, if only to reassure himself that he has, indeed, found her again. 

"Now all we need to do is come up with a message."

She frowns slightly and nods.

tbc…………………….


	17. Code 946

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 17

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN1: Thank you yet again, reviews are appreciated and read with enjoyment! Please keep it up.

AN2: GO PATRIOTS! 2004 Super Bowl champs!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 17: Code 946

"Team One…report."

"Ready."

"Team Two…report."

"Ready."

Alec listens as the mission commander checks on each group poised at different areas around the AmGen headquarters, just outside the fence line. When he finally gets to Max and Alec, Team Four, Alec responds that they are ready.

Taking a deep breath, he looks over at Max, who is crouched like he is outside the fence, in practically the same spot they were for the recon job. They are covered by dense brush, no one -- not even their mission companions -- can see them. They are waiting for Team One to shut off the security system so they can get in. This time, it will be easier; no need to avoid sensors or other complicated security measures, giving Alec more time to get a message to Terminal City. They have 15 minutes to copy and wipe the hard drive clean. Based on what Alec saw last time, it should only take him 10, leaving him five to get into Dix's system and get off an email. Tight, but he's confident he can do it.

"Ready?" he asks her.

"Yup."

Reaching out, he grasps her hand lightly; they can't speak freely or their voice activated mics would send any conversation they have through everyone's headsets.

"Ok, T-minus 30 seconds."

Alec rolls his eyes at the CO pretentious use of "t-minus," and Max has to hold back a laugh. 

Pretentious or not, 30 seconds later, the lights go off on the cameras, and the two transgenics move -- following the same path they had a few weeks earlier. The others enter at different locations, planting bombs.

 Once they easily access the CEO's office and computer, Alec whips out a mini-disk and quickly starts downloading every file stored in the company's vast server array. Max is watching the door and turns to him, nodding. 

He nods back at her, still clear. Complete silence -- that was the agreement; their only communication is through Manticore-taught hand signals and a few signals they came up with themselves.

Moving away from the door, Max walks around the desk and sees that Alec's downloads are right on schedule. 

"Come on," he is whispering at the computer, when a sudden explosion rocks the building. Papers go flying and expensive pieces of artwork crash to the floor. The two transgenics stay standing though.

Looking at a destroyed original Manet, Alec shakes his head. _Coulda__ fenced that for a small fortune._

"The hell!" Max screams, and looks at her watch. "They aren't supposed to blow for another five."

Talking into the mic, Max asks the CO what happened.

"We encountered some resistance -- not a problem, 452 -- carry on."

Repeating Alec's earlier gesture, and rolling her eyes, Max looks at the other transgenic who is giving her a similar expression. She raises her hands and swiftly gives him a message regarding their CO.

_Jackass._

_Brown noser, _he responds.

_Self-important prick.___

Alec almost laughs at that, but stifles the sound. Instead, he tells her to cut it out, and shakes his head.

"Almost done…almost done," he hisses, and his transgenic hearing picks up screaming through the headset, coming from elsewhere in the building. She must have heard the same thing, because Max moves quickly to the door, shaking her head. Not their floor.

_Yes!_ He motions and pulls out the disk, placing it back in the case and in his pants' pocket for safe-keeping. 

That task accomplished, Alec accesses the Internet and easily navigates to a hidden webspace -- entering all the appropriate codes, gaining access. He looks up at Max and sighs heavily….

"Here goes nothing…."

…And starts typing.

Dix happens to be at the computer terminal when a beep alerts him that someone is accessing the contact site. Sitting straight up, he waits; they weren't expecting an order anytime soon.

Alec is typing their predetermined message as fast as possible -- it's not long, and rather cryptic, but hopefully Dix will recognize it for what it is. A call to arms.

Alec presses the send button…

…and the lights go out.

"Shit," he hisses.

"Please tell me you got it out." She is intentionally vague.

"God, I hope so. Let's get out of here."

Just as they clear the building, several C4 bombs go off in the lower levels, collapsing the entire facility on itself.

Turning around, Alec notices Max has stopped and is standing in the grass, watching the buildings behind her burn. The orange glow around her makes Max appear as an angel. Alec smiles at that, and touches her shoulder, indicating retreat.

She nods, and they head to the rendezvous point, hoping that their message was sent and received.

Dix eyes the 'Inbox,' for lack of a better term, as he has been for the last ten minutes. The entire time lost in between confused and curious.

Squinting his face, he sighs slightly. Lost in his thoughts, he misses the other person coming into the room. Until they place a large hand on his shoulder, and Dix nearly jumps right out of the chair.

"Damn, Mole! Do I need to put a bell on you?" 

Mole gives him a look. "What is up your ass, buddy?"

He purses his lips and turns to the screen, tapping lightly on the blinking email. "That."

"That? What about 'that'? Isn't it a supply email?"

"No."

"No?"

Dix shakes his head. "No. It's weird though. You know that all the contacts and suppliers have to email us from the same IP address every time, 'cause otherwise I can reject the email and send it off into cyberspace, never to be seen again…"

"Was it a hack?" Mole interrupts.

"No, let me finish, would ya?" Mole waves his hands for Dix to continue. "Anyway, whoever sent it knew not only where to find the Web site, but all the codes to send the email. It wasn't hacked, it was just…entered."

"From where?"

"Don't know. None of our regular contacts, and the connection was lost before I could check. The only way to know is to open the thing."

Mole contemplates this for only a second before giving his vote. "Open it."

"Mole, if I open a virus, the whole shebang could be destroyed."

"Open it -- I have a feeling."

Dix sighs and turns back to the computer bank. "Ok, I'm opening potentially a program-destroying email on a 'feeling'. They teach you that at Manticore?"

Mole pokes at him lightly, grumbling, "Just do it, would you?"

Squinting, Dix clicks the 'accept' button and waits for the whole thing to shut down. Surprised when it doesn't, the email opens without incident. 

Leaning forward, he reads the message:

_D-_

_We have previously lost cargo, found, stuck in transit in __Boise__. Trying to get through government red tape, some confusion for a while. What we have would help with the troublemakers, the younger ones anyway._

_Try to contact you again in three days. Might have more news then, this place is a pit, someone should really just nuke it, a Code 946, perhaps._

"That's it?" Mole says, and throws his hands up before something occurs to him. "Wait…we have supplies coming through Boise? And what's a 'Code 946'?"

"No, we don't, and…." The little man says, reading the message again, slower. "Holy shit!"

At Dix's use of the epitaph, Mole turns to him. "What?"

"I don't know how they did it, I really don't. But it's Max and Alec." Dix starts furiously typing at the keyboard, running through screens so fast, Mole's head damn near spins off.

"Wha…?" he starts, before realizing what Dix already had. "Oh, man. I love that guy. Smart…very smart. 946 is 452 and 494 added together."

Nodding, Dix turns back to him. "They are in Boise; my guess is the facility is disguised as a juvenile detention center….'What we have would help with the troublemakers, the younger ones anyway'. And man, I think they want to bring down Manticore again. I'll start researching detention centers in Boise -- shouldn't be too hard now that I know what I'm looking for. Probably call Logan and have him start looking at other places across the country. If they want to take down Manticore, we have to do some serious damage. Just blowing up one facility won't do a damn thing. We need to get to the core, expose the whole mess."

"Agreed. I'll let the masses know."

Dix nods sort of at the lizard's retreating back, calling to him at the last minute. "Mole! The email originated in….oh God…Beacon Hill, Washington State."

"HERE? They were that close?"

"Yeah."

Mole just shakes his head and heads out to inform the rest of TC: Max and Alec are alive and coming home.

tbc……………………………….


	18. A Pact is Made

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 18

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN1: I'm going to start increasing my post schedule I think. Twice a week instead of once. Y'all have been so kind I feel it's something I can do for you in response. Don't think that means you can slack on reviewing…keep in mind it does fuel the writers soul and I take great joy out of reading them. I need little just an "I liked it" is enough for me!

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Chapter 18: A Pact is Made

"Report!" The handler barks at the eight transgenics standing at attention. 

Quickly the CO responds with a lengthy report before ending with a curt, "Mission successful, sir. The facility was destroyed and the data was copied by 494."

_Jesus, he could have led with that and I wouldn't be missing 20 more minutes of my life to this blowhard, _Alec thinks and tries not to shake his head at his CO.

"Excellent. 494?" 

He snaps back to attention mentally and reaches into his pocket, pulling out the disk and handing it over. Like before, the handler, who Alec has now dubbed Jackass, cursorily checks the contents and nods. "Very nice, 494. You've got more than we expected, it seems. Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir," he responds, every inch a soldier. It kinda makes Max shiver a bit that he can turn it on and off so easily.

"You are excused for the remainder of the afternoon. Call it free time."

"Yes, sir!" They respond in unison again, and slip out of the room -- everyone heading in different directions. Even Max and Alec.

Twenty minutes into her jog around the facility, Max hears someone else's footsteps catching up to her. Not even turning around, she increases her speed slowly, just staying ahead of the person behind her. She can feel the wind whipping across her face, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail, the tendrils smacking methodically on her back in time with her footfalls. It's a chilly November afternoon, but she doesn't really notice the temperature. Again, she increases her speed and she hears the other person do the same -- at least 100 yards behind her but swiftly closing the gap.

She follows a seldom-used path on the track, taking her back behind some unused buildings on the grounds. The grass is overgrown back here, coming just above her ankles; she can feel it brushing at her skin, tickling her slightly. It's beyond deserted here -- these buildings used to be classrooms when this was a juvenile detention center. Now they sit, abandoned by Manticore in favor of newly built facilities. Occasionally the trainers bring them back here for long distance target practice; she can see the bright red targets inside the tree line about 100 yards to her right. 

Lost in observation, Max is reminded that someone is following her when a body slams into her from behind, sending them both hurtling onto the ground, and forcing her breath out in a big whoosh. 

Lying flat on her back, she looks up at Alec, who is straddling her abdomen, a shit-eating grin on his face. Sighing, she regards him like an adult would a small child.

"What that really necessary?"

"You bet your ass." He smiles widely at her.

"Jackass."

"Oh no, I think you have me confused with our handler."

That gets an honest laugh from her. 

"You see that idiot following us?" she asks. "Man, what a slow poke. I think I lost him though when we spilt off the main track."

"Yup, seems Manticore doesn't trust us." He shakes his head in mock hurt.

"Big surprise. Ugh, get off me. Jesus, you've gained some weight in here." She shoves at his chest, unbalancing him slightly, but he doesn't fall.

"I take offense to that. Have not -- anyway, it's all muscle." He flexes his arms at her.

"You're pathetic. Now GET OFF ME." Again, she shoves him, and again, he remains seated on her stomach. 

"You know you like me straddling you."

Without even missing a beat, she answers, "Not the point. 'Sides, we really can't go at it here anyway. So…off."

He leans over her, placing his lips at her ear, his warm breath sending shivers through her body. His hands are on either side of her ribs, thumbs gently caressing the underside of her breasts through her thin shirt. "Why not? We ARE breeding partners, you know."

She's speechless for a moment. _Did he just?_ But before she can answer, he brings his head back up, allowing his lips to gently slide over hers. She practically moans at him for more, but he rolls off her, lying next to Max in the grass and weeds, staring up at the gray sky. Boise in November sure is…boring.

They lie in silence for a long time, just staring at the sky, watching the clouds slide past them.

"Are we going to get out of here?" she finally asks.

"Yes."

Turning onto her side, she puts her head in one hand and looks down at him, regarding his expression carefully. "You seem awful sure of that."

He looks into her eyes and she feels like he is boring into her soul. "I have to be -- failure is not an option. I'm not spending the rest of my life here."

She nods in agreement and leans over, using her free hand to push some strands of dark blonde hair off his forehead. He stops her by lightly grasping her wrist.

"Max, if they…if they find out…I'd rather be dead than reindoctrinated or turned into a living parts bank."

She bites her lower lip and looks at him. Tears spring into her eyes, as she remembers Zack. She can't imagine life without Alec, but she can't imagine life at Manticore forever either. "I know…I know."

Their fingers entwine together and she rests her head on his shoulder. After several minutes of silence, he speaks again. "So it's all or nothing. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

He sits up at the same time she hears something in the distance. 

"Damn," he mutters, and helps her up.

"Idiot found us. Let's go." She wipes some foliage off her camos and faces the direction she was originally heading, waiting for Alec before starting to jog.

"So, how exactly do you plan on getting another message to Dix?"

He smiles at her and raises his eyebrows. "Ohhhh, you'll find out."

She furrows her brows at him. "What did you do?"

He just quickens his pace, getting ahead of her. She increases her speed, easily catching up. "Seriously, what did you do?"

All she gets is a smile in response.

Drummond rounds the corner of the building. He had been following the transgenics and while he had momentarily lost them, he managed to catch back up. Keeping up with them is proving to be harder than expected. Why Jacob put him on this duty he will never know; there are guards in far better shape than him. But in his five years here, he has never questioned an order and isn't about to start.

Scanning the backside of Manticore, he spots his targets; they are jogging in the other direction. Back towards the main campus.

"Shit," he mutters and walks quickly after them.

A little more than two days later, they are in the yard training separately when one of the lab techs approaches Alec's trainer. Max watches from afar as they chat in low tones; she can't quite hear them from her location, waiting her turn at the short distance firearm range.

Finally the trainer sighs and nods, calling Alec out of the line and pointing at the lab guy. Alec nods dutifully, but as he passes her on the way back to the buildings, he gives her a quick wink.

_Oh lord, what _did_ that idiot do? _

Alec follows the guy into the computer lab area; he hadn't said a word to the transgenic about what was going on. But Alec knows and smiles. They had found it a little early, but that was ok by his book.

During his little downloading adventure the other day at AmGen, he had taken some innocuous expense reports and encoded them. Serious Defense department-type encoding that Dix had taught him based on pre-pulse encoding software. He had then buried the information deep on the disk, so they wouldn't find it for a couple days. Alec knew the techs would start at the beginning and work their way through, so he had put some interesting stuff at the start, the encoded expense reports in the middle, and the information they really wanted at the end. And Alec knew no computer geek, Manticore or not, could resist something so heavily coded; it was like flies to honey. They would have to stop and decode it, figuring AmGen would only code something like this if it was important.

Suppressing a smirk, he stops at the lab guy's computer station, staring at him noncommittatlly. 

"Ok, we've been going through this enormous amount of information you copied, but we ran into a…snag."

"Oh? Really? What kind of snag?" He acts bored with the whole situation, like he would rather be anywhere else than stuck in the computer lab.

"There's a significant amount of encoded information on here. Any idea what program you pulled this from? It's got us stumped."

Alec leans over the tech, purposely crowding his space and scrunches his face at the lines and lines of nonsensical numbers across the screen, pretending to think hard. He had used that old encoding system, hoping that Manticore wouldn't have the software to decode it. Finally he stands up, snapping his fingers. "Yeah, it was some old pre-pulse stuff. Envivio4Coder I think it was called."

The tech looks at him confused for a minute. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I've heard of that company. Hey…Alex! You remember Envivio4Coder stuff?"

_Oh shit, they know the system,_ he thinks, sure that he's screwed.

"No, what the hell are you talking about?" a disembodied voice calls from the other side of the room.

"494 here says that's the company who encoded this."

"Can't help ya."

The tech turns to him. "Ok, thanks though. We'll figure it out. Why would they use pre-pulse software?"

"Maybe they didn't want anyone reading it," Alec says and shrugs.

"Yeah, probably. Thanks 494, we'll…work on it."

"Anytime," he says and walks away, unable to contain a small smile as he enters the hall.

Checking the time, he heads to the mess hall. Time for a nutritious meal of something he can't even identify. Many things may have changed about Manticore, but the crappy food certainly hadn't. Grabbing food, he easily finds her sitting at the end of a long table, ignoring those around her. Looking around the room, he spots the guard who had been following them earlier; he seems to be pretty well locked into Max's position.

Alec shakes his head and sits right in front of her, his back to the guard, partially blocking the guy's view of her. _Hmmm, he needs a name too. I'll have to think on that._

She barely acknowledges his arrival, and continues to push food around her plate, making strange designs. 

"So, 452, how was the rest of training?"

"Boring as ever. How was your little trip?"

"Ohhh, pretty informative. Turns out some of the information on that disk was encoded with a pre-pulse program. The tech's heads where about to spin off, but I set 'em straight."

She merely nods, but gives him a strange look, obviously wondering what he is up to, and why they hell she didn't know about it.

tbc……………………………


	19. Welcome to Detroit

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 19

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Heeee! Almost to the end, about 7 chapters left. Its kinda sad really. Again, thank you all for the many kind reviews; they make my day.and make me contemplate writing a sequel.maybe. If not a sequel, at least another story, so please.you keep writing and so will I. Deal?

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Chapter 19: Welcome to Detroit

Of course, when two days later they are dragged to Olivet's office again, Max is sure Alec has something to do with it. They are both supposed to be in classes on biology and genetics for an upcoming deep cover mission. 

Standing outside his office, she merely stares at her partner in crime. She is sure this it has to do with that disk from the AmGem job - she can't seem to call them missions. Alec's face, however, gives nothing up; he has that 'dutiful soldier' expression that scares her sometimes.

Finally tiring of attempting to stare him into looking at her, Max starts going through potential Manticore destruction plans. Since the two days in her cell during heat, they had managed to discuss and dismiss several ideas. Their main problem was they were in here and their help.wasn't. The second problem was that even if they managed to expose this site, Max was SURE there were more, in addition to wherever the HQ was. Everything needed to be exposed at once -- to the nation, to the government at its highest level. They needed to bring on the kind of heat that would destroy Manticore and ensure that it couldn't rise from the ashes again.

Max hates making these kinds of unilateral decisions for those soldiers who know nothing but the stability of Manticore, but she has heard from most of the residents of TC that they couldn't be happier out from under their former ruler. Apparently being free trumps being secure.

Lost in thought, she doesn't even hear the director's door open until his assistant, the one whose windpipe she had nearly crushed, calls their designations. She follows Alec in and stands at attention; she doesn't have to wait long for Olivet to get to the point.

"While you and 452 did an excellent job recovering the information from AmGen, there appears to be a section of text that is encoded. It's an old pre-pulse system that we simply do not have access to -- it's so old that no one uses it anymore. We are going to copy the section onto a disk for you and you will take it to the Enviro HQ outside Detroit to decode; they should have a copy of the program on their servers, even though it isn't used anymore. You have a cover as contractors working on their mainframe. That should get you access, if not, do what you have to. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." They respond in unison.

"Good, you'll be on a commercial flight tomorrow morning. IDs and wardrobe will be ready for you then."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed, back to classes."

They turn and leave, as a small grin cracks over Alec's face.

Alec leans back in his cot later that night, supremely pleased with himself. He smiles to himself for what has to be the eighth time that day: it couldn't have worked out better if he tried. 

"Lets just hope my luck holds," he mutters into the empty room. They had recently been transferred out of the barracks and into individual cells. Once your "retraining" is over, and you've successfully completed a mission, you get a raise of sorts -- your own room. Plus, then they can cycle the newest recruits into the open area sleeping arrangements.

Resting his head on his pillow and closing his eyes, Alec is just about asleep when a swishing sound from his door gets his attention. Not someone opening it, but sliding something under it. Sitting up slowly, he stares at the floor -- at a small object that had slid to just this side of the foot of his bed. Somewhere in his head he is waiting for it to explode, taking him out for good, but when after several minutes nothing happens, he slowly gets up and picks up the object.

It's a mini-disk, similar to the one that he used to collect the Am-Gen information. But...it can't be the same one -- they are only getting a copy.tomorrow. Not one slid under his door in the middle of the night. 

Turning it over in his hand, he notices a small note taped to the back.

**List of all Manticore locations, and then some.**** Do with it what you will.**

"What the hell?" he says aloud, quickly ripping off the note and shoving the disk into his pants pocket. They have someone on the inside. Maybe.

_Maybe this will turn out ok._

He closes his eyes again for the second time and drifts into sleep.

He's standing anxiously in the briefing room, waiting for Max to appear so they can get the hell out of here for a while. He had already debated the wisdom of just disappearing on this little trip, but the disk in his inside jacket pocket changed his mind. With someone on the inside here, they could do far more damage than attempting to hack into Manticore from Terminal City. Plus, if they do just disappear into the night, Olivet will know that they were playing him, and will most likely take it out on TC, so he isn't willing to take that chance. He and Max had already debated the pros (if there really are any) and cons of Olivet being X series. The only pro he can come up with is that the man is X3, never a very mentally stable bunch. The best he can hope for now is to transmit whatever is on that disk to Dix and see what the transhuman can do. Of course, provided the information isn't bogus.

_So I've got a disk that may or may not contain a list of traitors and a potentially psychotic director on my ass. It just doesn't get any better than this.._

For a moment, he allows his mind to wander back to his friends in Seattle. He wonders if they are worried about them, if they think he and Max are dead. _If they did, they don't anymore.probably._ He misses being home --although Alec can't exactly pinpoint when Seattle had become home for him. He just knows that being there gives him a sense of family; he feels complete there. It doesn't matter that they are wanted, hunted because they were created in a lab instead of by conventional methods. Doesn't matter that every day is a struggle for water, food, shelter --he wouldn't have it any other way. Alec can't imagine life without Dix, Luke, Mole, Joshua and her.Max. His existence, his _true _existence started with one word, a name that she had given him. She.._oh my god.._

She walks into the room, and all thoughts in his head come to a dead stop. She looks.gorgeous, drop dead at that. Alec stands up straight, pulling at the tie around his neck.

She is wearing a sleek black suit, with a rather short skirt that clings to her curves. The blazer is open and her burgundy blouse under it is open practically to her navel. He isn't really sure how she keeps from exposing herself, not that that would be a problem - for him, anyway. He follows the long lines of her legs down to._oh god help me._black four-inch stiletto shoes, the kind with straps crossing her feet, exposing her lovely, and now painted, toes to him. Wandering back up her body, he takes note that they cut a few inches off her hair and highlighted it with auburn, which only serves to accent her exotic looks. 

She wiggles her eyebrows at him as she approaches slowly, swinging her hips slightly, intoxicating him. When she gets close enough to touch, she spins easily on one heel, facing the handler who brought her in.

Alec is only half-listening as they get the final mission details, and before he knows it, they are en route to the airport.

_That's it.one more guy stares at her like that and someone's getting punched. _Alec sends a warning glace to another fellow traveler as he walks slightly behind Max, letting her lead the way to the plane. 

"Nice outfit," he finally says to her, as they hand their tickets to the boarding agent. They already determined Manticore hadn't bugged them; they couldn't with the new scanning machines at the airport because it would get found and raise unneeded questions.

"Thanks." She smiles at him.

"I wasn't aware that prostitution was part of the mission." He does little to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Why, Alec, are you jealous that you didn't get the short skirt and painful shoes?"

"What? No!" he protests, perhaps a bit too much as they find their seats. _Hmmm, first class.nice.___

Alec had originally planned on scamming her out of the window seat, but after catching a glimpse of the expression on the man's face across the aisle, he changes his mind. 

"You take the window," he says and guides her into the seat.

She adjusts her skirt before sitting, and looks at him strangely. "What is your problem?"

"Nothing." He sits next to her, smiling at her.

"Uh huh.I think you don't like other men looking at me." She nods her head in agreement with her own assessment. "When did you get to be a Neanderthal?"

"I'm not.forget it." He waves a hand dismissively at her and puts his head back on the seat. 

"Fine. It wasn't my idea anyway, moron. Someone decided that if we get in a jam, I can always try to." She pauses and struggles for the word she wants.

"Seduce our way out of it?"

"Well.yeah. Besides you don't look half bad yourself in that fancy suit. Blue really is your color -- brings out those green eyes."

He opens one eye and looks at her. She's got that look on her face -- the one that's says she's about to do something.probably to him. He isn't disappointed when she leans across the seat and captures his lips with hers. He was expecting physical contact, just not this. 

He can feel one of her warm hands on his thigh, slowly making circles on his pant leg. Without even thinking of the spectacle they probably are causing by now, he brings his hands up and cups her cheeks, holding her in place. Her lips on his feel so good, soft and feminine and.strawberry. The kiss is tender, loving, a mere promise of the future -- a future outside Manticore, nothing more. He feels her pull away, and opens his eyes just as she wipes her thumb along his lips, removing the dark red lipstick she left behind.

"I, uh, I don't suppose we have time for a 'special mission'? There are plenty of hotels in Detroit," he asks with a smirk, and observes that they are now on the runway, quickly accelerating for take off.

She sighs slightly. "No, we don't and you know it. We have to be on the six o'clock flight back."

He touches her cheek lightly, running the tips of his fingers across her smooth skin. "I know.I just wish. OH!"

She jumps slightly at his exclamation. "What?"

Again he smirks. "We do have a 'special misson'," he says and pulls the disk out of his pocket, showing her the note.

"Where the hell did you get that?" 

Looking around the cabin he leans into her, his lips brushing her ear. "Depends.You wanna join the mile high club?"

That earns him a light cuff over the head, and he quickly divulges how he found it, and the real reason they were on a flight to Michigan. They debated courses of action for the remainder of the flight, now taking into account their 'man' on the inside.

Mole walks into command and sighs at his co-leader. The smaller transhuman is passed out on his terminal, his head resting neatly on folded arms. Dix hadn't moved for the past two days, waiting for Alec's next message and communicating with Logan about possible Manticore sites. They already identified the Boise site that Max and Alec are being held at. The Boise Center for Troubled Youth was its name on the tax roles and their accounting wasn't terribly suspicious: funding coming from the government, expenditures on clothing, food, computers, the like. But after much digging by Logan, they had noticed something odd. Despite fronting as a not-for-profit organization, it had never filed with local or national government that way. They actually paid all their taxes, on time even. Currently the cyber hacker was attempting to find other not-for-profits also inexplicably paying their taxes.

In addition to that, he had been trying to figure a way to blow the whole thing up in Manticore's faces, but that would require finding the initial source of funding, and finding the guys in charge, who were most likely buried in the government rolls as something else. Of course once they had all the information, it was a matter of figuring out the best way to get the information to the right people. Otherwise they would have another Seattle on their hands. As soon as Manticore was made, they would attempt to cauterize their sites, regardless of the loss of money and lives. They needed to figure a way to stop that from happening, but they weren't sure how.

"Dix." The lizard calls. "Dix.hey, man."

"Sleeping."

"I can see that, man, but I doubt the keyboard appreciates the drool bath."

Slowly, Dix raises his head and regards Mole with a foul expression. "I do not drool."

Mole ignores the protest. "Go get some sleep, man -- you need it."

"Nuh huh. Someone needs to monitor for Alec; should be today if he is on target."

"And what if he's not? What if something happened and he can't get to a computer yet? You can't sit here 24/7, Dix -- I'll watch."

"Gimme another couple hours, ok? I got a nap in, I'm good."

Mole sighs again and nods, heading off to check on the food inventory; it's starting to get tight, and they need another shipment, but some of the contacts are hesitant about working with anyone but Alec. They need him back. They need them both back.

"Ready?"

"I'm always ready." He clips on his ID and they approach the front desk.

"Jack Ryter and Leighanne Murphy from ComCo -- we are here to do the yearly maintenance on the servers," he says and gives the woman behind the counter his best smile.

"Oh, of course, we've been waiting for you. Let me call Bob Neuhouse."

Again, he smiles at her. "Thank you."

As they step away from the desk, she leans over in his ear. "Whore."

"Hey, if you can use your body, I can do the same."

She eyes him appreciably, if quickly. "And a nice body it is." And winks at him.

Any retort is cut off by a large man approaching them. "Mr. Ryter, Miss Murphy. this way, please. We have a secure area all set up for you."

"Thank you, we'll do our best to get in and out."

tbc..........


	20. Copper in the Air

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 20

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: You know, all these thanks I've been saying and I don't think I've had one for the other Nuns. Thank you Nuns With Pens, without you I don't think I would have ever posted, your encouragement is unreal and appreciated so much. You provide a lovely place to post mmmmAlec fiction where a new fandom writer can feel comfortable. Thank you. Shallowness esp thank you, your comments are both constructive and most helpful.

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Chapter 20: Copper in the Air

Jacob approaches the other man and nods slowly. Everything is going as planned. If 494 did what he hoped, the information on that disk has been sent to Terminal City.

"Is it done?" the other man asks.

Jacob looks at his watch. "Hopefully soon. I have faith that he will send the data."

"I hope so. We can't keep doing this, Jake. I think some of the tech guys are getting suspicious."

"Look, we need that secure line. Just for a few hours. Then it will all be over."

"I'll do what I can."

"Thank you," Jacob says and watches the other man walk away, hoping that his confidence in the transgenic is not misplaced.

"Wow, someone has downloaded a lot of porn," he says and whistles lowly. "I mean, how stupid are you? On your work computer of all places? Dumb, dumb…"

"Oh yeah, you NEVER look at porn," she mutters from her spot in front of the window.

They are currently residing in a small office inside the server room. Half of the wall with the door is windows, allowing whoever is working inside to see –and buzz in people on the outside, if needed. In this case, however, it makes for a nice surveillance spot for Max. The rest of the room consists of a workstation, which Alec is seated at, and filing cabinets.

He looks up at her with an indignant expression. "I never said I didn't, but I wouldn't be stupid enough to download it onto the TC servers to get caught doing it. No wonder we are the superior species…."

He hears her move and stand behind him, placing one small hand on his shoulder. Alec has had to push more than one thought of what they could do inside the small, unmonitored room out of his head. "Well how 'bout you ACT like the superior species and decode instead of checking out the porn? And how 'bout that email to Dix?"

"Relax, Max, I'm about to ship off the email, and decoding won't take but 15 minutes. I can multitask." He winks at her and she shakes her head at him.

"Yeah, you said that last time -- remember what happened?"

He points a finger at her. "Hey! The merlady got back to the ocean and her mate -- that's the important part."

"Whatever, just get going. I'd like to get out of here sooner rather than later."

"Yes, ma'am."

Without even looking at her he pulls up the Internet and, similar to AmGen, starts pulling up window after window at transgenic speed. Finally he gets to the email and inserts the disk into the drive of the computer. 

"First, let's check what's on this bad boy. Don't want to be sending ol' Dix a virus." He feels her lean into him more, the silk of her blouse brushing his neck lightly. If he turned his head a mere 15 degrees, he would be getting an eyeful of his partner. Instead he pulls up the information and whistles again. "Are you getting this?"

"Ohhhh yeah."

"Damn, Max, it's every Manticore facility in the US." Scrolling through the information, he stops at the end of the file. "Jackpot!"

Max pulls away from him and he looks up at her, noting a less than enthusiastic expression on her face. "What's wrong? This is everything we need! Everything to plan the final attack against Manticore. We got them."

"What if it's a trap? How did your mole KNOW you weren't 494? I don't think we've let on, 'cause if we had, we would be dead…or giving TC bad information."

He considers her words carefully; he had the same thoughts she did. This could be an elaborate trap. But at the same time, what if it isn't? What if this is the opportunity they need? "We can't be sure, Max, but I'll send this to Dix, and we can try to verify it as best we can. I'm sure with this kind of head start, Dix and maybe Logan can have it confirmed easily. We HAVE to, 'cause what if it's not a trap?"

Biting her lower lip, she nods, and he completes the email, sending it off in a flourish with a promise to get back to Dix as soon as they can. With the knowledge on that disk, they can start to form a real, solid plan. 

He pulls the disk from the drive, hands it to her and reinserts the one given to them from Manticore. They are similar in size and color, so he doesn't want to confuse them. Quickly he starts decoding the expense reports, reading the screen as it passes by.

"So, any suggestions what to do while we wait?" he asks, eyeing her up and down. 

Alec is surprised when she moves in between him and the computer, placing herself between his legs. Slowly, she moves closer, pushing his legs farther apart, leaning over with the grace of a cat. This time, he does get an eyeful of her breasts, and it's all he can do again not to pull her down into his lap. Placing her hands on his thighs for support, she leans the last few inches into him, brushing her lips against his, lightly at first, then with more fervor. 

Alec brings his hands up and runs them through her hair, pressing her lips harder into his, almost bruisingly. She tastes so good, like…Max. _God, I cannot wait to have her._

They kiss more briskly, lips and tongues clashing, his hands now on her slim waist, fingers making circles on her skirt. The moment carries him away, and he slides his hand down her thigh, across silken material, and places it just under her skirt, ready to follow her nylon-encased leg up…

And the computer beeps at them, indicating it's completed the decoding.

They pull apart, and Alec looks around her at the screen. "Dammit," he breathes.

She follows suit and steps away from him, straightening her now slightly off-kilter skirt. He looks up at her and gives her a look they both comprehend: _They'll continue this at __Terminal__City__. Someday._

For a minute, he feels guilty about doing what they did; they _are_ on a mission, and it's not playtime. Fortunately, the guilt doesn't last long. Fuck Manticore -- having some fun on this mission is exactly what Manticore wouldn't want. So he's all for doing it.

Becoming only slightly more serious, he pulls out the disk and places it in his suit coat, patting slightly.

"Whooo! Manticore is gonna be pissed when they find AmGen-encoded expense reports for copy paper. And toner. Exciting! Maybe they were copying their asses. Top secret stuff, you know."

She merely shakes her head at him as he turns to the computer, ready to shut it down when he notices something.

"Uh oh."

At that, she swings around to him. "What, 'uh oh'?"

"Hang on." Quickly, he tries a few things. "We have to go now; I think we've been found out."

"What? How?"

"Don't know, not really caring, Max, but this computer just shut down and I think I hear alarm bells." He stands, and just as he grabs her arm, an alarm in the server room goes off.

"Move," he hisses, and looks up out the glass wall in front of him. He can't see anyone…yet.

Alec grasps Max's hand as he walks by her. Getting to the door, he counts on his fingers from three to one. On one, he turns the doorknob.

Only to find them locked in.

Terminal City

"Got it!" Dix hollers, and Mole comes running. "Right on time."

Mole leers over the smaller man's shoulder and scans the email from "Project 946", grinning slightly. 

_D-_

_See the attachment for some enlightening information. I hope that you have found the rat in TC, and contained the problem. Working from the inside and have help, hopefully. Please confirm information and will contact you again. Maybe can take down M from TC? Not much time, needs to be coordinated. _

_Tell Big Fella we miss him. Later_

"What's in the attachment?" Mole asks, like a kid opening a present with no patience.

"Relax, I have to scan for bugs or viruses first," Dix tells him, and runs the needed programs to ensure their system isn't infected by something.

Several minutes, and a few prods from Mole later, they are looking at the jackpot. 

"Holy shit," Mole says, and his cigar almost comes right out of his mouth.

"My thoughts exactly." 

In front of them in living color is a complete list of 20 Manticore facilities across the country, a list of former Manticore scientists on the run, and the accounting information from a program in Congress. 

Detroit, MI

"It's locked down," he grouses, and takes a step back, placing Max behind him.

Alec gives the door a swift kick and it falls to the ground. Their security, while admirable, is no match for the strength of an X5. 

Suddenly, a bullet slices through the air at him, nearly missing his head.

"Shit!" he hisses, and they blur across an open area into one of the many rows of servers as more bullets are fired in their direction. They come to a stop, and both transgenics look around.

They are in the middle of the server banks, rows and rows of them in neat lines all parallel to the only door out of here. The sections are only 10 feet wide with a narrow walkway before another section starts, the next line of banks starts approximately four feet from where they are. The servers are recessed in the room -- the only exit a door in the middle of an observation balcony, which is only accessible by a set of stairs at the north end of the building. 

They can both hear the guards approaching their location, moving quickly. Sticking his head out one side, Alec sees them maybe half a football field away. Their exit, however, is another hundred yards behind them. Of course they are on the far end of the room from their destination. Alec internally curses the size of this place, and turns to Max; she is checking out her side as well.

"I've got at least half a dozen over here, checking row by row. Maybe 70 yards away," she tells him quickly.

"Damn. Same, but mine are closer. Hmmm….two transgenics, a dozen armed guards. I don't think so."

She nods her head in agreement. They wouldn't have a chance. He sees her stick her head around the side again.

"Alec…closer," she hisses at him.

"I know, I know. SHIT!" Frustrated, he looks up and tilts his head. The banks are only 10 feet high at the most, with plenty of head clearance. And they are spaced maybe 4 feet from each other. _Hmmmmmm__.___

"Hey, Max. Can you leapfrog?"

"What?" She turns and looks at him. "We're this close to being caught and you want to know if I can leapfrog?"

Alec merely grins at her, looks up and then meets her face again. He watches as his plan dawns on her.

She gives him a sly smile and bends down to take her shoes off. At his look, she comments, "I'm good, but I'm not THAT good."

"OK, on three."

She nods and holds onto the shoes with her left hand. If they are going to get away, she can't really gather attention by running around without shoes on.

"One, two…three!"

On three, the two jump as one onto the top of the server bank, steadying themselves before jumping to the next one After getting a hang of it, they both speed up their jumps, barely landing before taking off again. 

As they pass the guards, Alec realizes they've been spotted as one raises his weapon and shouts at the others. He increases his speed slightly, just as the first bullet zings past him. Then another, and before he knows it, Alec is dodging bullets while trying not to fall off their perch. Looking ahead, he sees Max, also staying low, avoiding the gunfire and trying not to fall. Even for a transgenic it's a tricky maneuver. 

Shifting his focus, he notes they only have another 20 feet or so to go before they get to the end of the road…and the stairs. Focusing on that, he pushes himself, jumping for the last time and landing safely on the linoleum floor beneath him as more gunfire erupts above him.

Catching his breath, Alec looks around for Max, and is surprised when he doesn't see her. She was ahead of him. She should be here. Walking over to where she should have landed, he looks up, concerned by her disappearing act. They have a precious few second lead on the men chasing them.

Just as he is ready to jump back up and try and locate her, she falls rather ungracefully to the ground in a heap next to him, curled into a fetal position, her back to him.

The first thing Alec notices is the smell of copper in the air, then the blood trickling down her back, pooling on the floor.

tbc…………………………..


	21. Minor Surgery

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 21

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Heeeee, hope everyone is still reading after that nasty cliffhanger I left you with last chapter. Maybe this one will make up for it. This chapter is a little….squeamish inducing, at least to my beta, so you are warned.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 21: Minor Surgery

It's not a lot of blood, not by their standards, but it's enough to concern him. _Shit, shit, shit. _

He leans down and touches her neck; she is still warm, and her pulse is beating steadily, but she's not conscious. Looking at her back-the jacket left behind in the office-he notices a small bullet hole just under her right shoulder blade. Leaving one hand on her upper arm and leaning over her, he peeks around the corner; guards are bearing down, and quickly.

"Come on, baby, I can't carry you out of here," he mutters. 

As if hearing him, she suddenly grips his wrist. "Help me up."

Without argument, he holds her arm and gets her standing. For a moment, she sways, and he worries she will faint on him. But then she steadies herself, and he looks at her carefully, but quickly.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's go." Giving him a small smile, she waves her left hand at him. "At least I held onto the shoes."

He shakes his head at her and they blur to the stairs, surprised when more gunfire doesn't ring out. Sprinting up the stairs, they turn right and blur the 10 feet to the door. Alec grabs the handle and pulls it open to reveal another guard blocking the door with his bulky frame, almost waiting for them.

Before the larger man can act, Alec punches him squarely in the jaw, rendering him unconscious. Leaning down, Alec pulls the man's gun from his belt and weighs it in his hand before nodding. _Fully loaded.___

Scanning the area, he is surprised to find the dark hallway empty except for them. He can still hear the alarms ringing; it's louder here, and ringing in his sensitive ears. Alec wonders where everyone is, since he figured to come upon more resistance. Then again, the security force probably didn't figure on two genetically engineered humans being their target, and assumed the team of twelve could take care of them.

_Sorry to disappoint._

Looking up, he sees signs directing visitors around the large complex. Seeing what he wants, Alec points to the right and the two take off, blurring down the hall and around the corner before their pursuers even come through the door to also find the hall empty except the unconscious man.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dix looks over the information yet again. He has printed everything out and has it organized on the conference table. There has to be something in here to nail Manticore with. 

He picks up one piece of paper and studies it. The list of the Manticore sites across the US. Many more than they anticipated; fifteen including Boise. They are mostly in the west, but there are a few sprinkled on the east coast. Sighing, he places the paper back on the table just as Mole walks in.

The lizard claps him on the back before speaking. "How's it going? Figure out how to bring 'em down?"

"No, this information is…useless almost. It's great that we know where the sites are, and what they are pretending to be. And sure, we can release it to the press anonymously, 'cause who wants to hear from the transgenics, but Manticore would probably just destroy the sites, like they did in Seattle."

Mole starts to try and interrupt, but the smaller transhuman continues. "Which, by the way, is STILL on this list. Some of these sites could be abandoned by now!"

"Dix, man. Relax. There HAS to be a reason Alec sent us this. We just aren't seeing it."

"Do you realize that Manticore is hiding its funding in a program for adoption! A federal program to assist couples wanting to adopt! Unreal." Dix throws his hands up in frustration. All this information and he can't figure out how to use it. Then again, he isn't trained for forming missions and creating strategy…Alec and Max are. 

Mole sees his friend's frustration. "Get everything to Logan; see if Eyes Only can do anything. Maybe if we expose everything at once, they won't be able to do anything about it. It'll be hard to explain fires at all the facilities at once."

"Yeah, yeah. We just need a credible source to get the information out. Hearing it from us isn't going to work. At all."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh god, it hurts," she mutters, and slides down the wall, coming to a stop when her ass hits the barren subfloor.

Alec regards her with concern; they had managed to get out of the facility through the very unsecured loading docks, but they had to walk a while before Alec could steal a suitable vehicle to get them to the airport. And Detroit in December ain't exactly warm, so by the time they found the Olds, Max was shivering so hard Alec was sure she was going to seize on him. 

Getting to the airport hadn't been a problem; they had snuck into an old part of the terminal that was being renovated, but with the holidays right around the corner, no one appeared to actually be working. So now, here she sits on a drywall dust-covered subfloor. Kneeling at her side, he looks up the wall at the wide bloodstain left behind. 

Alec carefully grasps her shoulder and assists her in laying on her left side, back to him. She moans slightly as she comes to a stop on the floor, trying to curl into a tight ball. Alec winces at her moan, but carries on, ripping the thin fabric of her shirt to gain better access to the wound. Tearing off a part of his shirt, he wipes some of the blood away; she's still bleeding, which concerns him. It's a pretty small hole considering, and he palpitates around it.

"Alec, please stop." Her small voice holds a tone of begging, something he never hears from her. 

"I'm sorry, Max. I have to see how deep." He purses his lips; he hates to hurt her. Leaning into her ear, he whispers. "Just another minute, ok, baby?"

She merely nods at him, and he feels her tense under his fingers, anticipating the pain. Quickly he goes back to inspecting, wanting to get this over with. When he hits a sore spot just to the left of the injury, she gasps and twitches slightly, as Alec feels his heart clench. Biting his lower lip, he pulls the fabric back together and rubs his hand lightly over her arm, trying his best to be comforting.

He takes a moment and looks at her. Her skin is tinged blue from the blood loss. Her eyes are starting to glaze over, the normal life and fire they hold seeping out slowly with every drop of blood; although thankfully, the blood flow has eased a bit, her body finally starting to do its job. Max may be a transgenic, but she is still fallible -- and if she was all human, she'd be dead already. He has to stop the bleeding or she will bleed out in front of him, and he won't be able to stop it. Watching carefully, he notices her start to shake slightly, barely visible movements that send a river of ice through his veins. It could just be the cold since they are in an unheated area or…. _Come on Max, don't seize on me. I can stop bleeding, but I can't find tryptophan. _

Brushing hair back from her face, he speaks to her in low tones. "I'm going to get the bags and see what I can find to do a little minor surgery. Hang in, Max; I'll get you out of here."

Regretfully, he stands and shrugs out of his jacket, laying it carefully over her; she hasn't even responded to his words. Standing, he walks to the large plastic sheeting separating the construction area from the rest of the terminal. Giving her one last look, Alec quickly moves into the crowd, careful to look like everyone else -- a harried traveler. Moving as fast as he can without drawing attention, Alec starts the arduous task of collecting what he may need to save Max's life. He hates to leave her alone, but it has to be done; he can't just watch her bleed to death. Not once considering what would happen if he can't save her, because failure is not an option. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"They haven't checked in yet?!" Richard practically screams at Jacob.

"No sir, and there are reports from Detroit about a break-in attempt at a software company. They are reporting that one of the burglars was injured."

"Jesus. Dammit!" Richard screams and turns to the window. He cannot afford to lose 494 and 452 now, not with the committee wanting them to breed in a bad way. Once his boss had seen the genetic reports, word had come down not to wait for her heat: 452 is to have in-vitro performed, if she's not already pregnant. Unfortunately, that would take 452 out of fieldwork, and in only 2 missions, she had proved to excel there. But implanting her fertilized egg into another X was iffy at best. They had tried and failed miserably at that also; the best chance was to implant it into the genetic mother, and even that success was now barely 15% of the time. But the committee wants it and who is Richard to argue.

Human surrogates took to the implanted fetus better than the X5 females. The geneticists had speculated that because the X's genes had been tampered with, when a fetus not carrying half the mother's genetic code was introduced into an X, their bodies reject it as a foreign body to be destroyed. Their antibodies were "reading" babies' genetic code more or less. Human females, without the specific gene coding present in the transgenics-and therefore unable to "read" the tampering-, had a nearly 90% success rate -- all they had to do was match the blood types. The human antibodies did not recognize the baby as anything but that. Unfortunately, human female surrogates were harder to find in this day and age. Additionally, bringing in more people could mean more exposure if they decide to talk, which is exactly what the grand committee was trying to avoid. 

Which brought Richard to the problem at hand. If the reports were correct, then 452 and 494's children could be the future of Manticore -- the future that he, and everyone else, had been searching for for a generation. Richard had already targeted several other breeding pairs whose genetic signatures read perfectly – just like his missing transgenics, 452 and 494.The most compatible of the pairs have the pleasure of being the guinea pigs.

"Find them." He hisses at Jacob, and doesn't even turn from looking out the window.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Twenty minutes after leaving her, Alec returns to their hiding hole. Before departing Metro, they had stored bags with a change of clothes and new identities in a locker. In the event they were found out – as they had been – they would change clothes and book a flight back with the new names. They had come as business professionals, and that's who the police would be looking for, but they would leave as college students.

Pushing plastic aside, and making sure no one was looking, Alec steps in to find Max in the exact same position she was when he left. Sighing, he approaches her slowly; afraid she has died in the time he was gone. The thought of taking back a body almost brings him to tears; he can't imagine life without her now. It's been that way a while now, a while since they stopped being adversaries and started being friends, and sometimes more. _So long, Max, so long we figured we had all the time in the world to be more. We, of all people, should have known better. There's never enough time in the world for transgenics. We may outlive our human counterparts, but that's only if someone doesn't kill us or put us in a cage first._

Closing in on her, he is relieved when his sensitive hearing picks up her steady breathing. 

"Max?" he whispers.

"Max…" Louder this time. But this time, he gets a response.

"Alec?"

He reaches out and brushes her hair back as she turns her head to see him.

_Oh god, no…._

Her lips are tinged blue. 

Frantically, he looks down on the floor, his cat-like vision making up for the lack of light in the room. There hadn't been blood there before, but now there is a puddle the size of his shoe, and it's only getting bigger.

"Max, how do you feel?"

"Tired, really tired. And cold. It hurts so bad, Alec. I almost passed out while you were gone."

His heart clenches at this revelation: she was here alone and in pain. _She's going into shock._

"Max, I'm going to have to dig the bullet out and cauterize, ok? It's going to hurt like a bitch, but I need you to stick with me, ok?" 

_Please don't leave me._

She nods, and adjusts so her back is more accessible to him. 

Grabbing his bag, Alec pulls out the meager supplies he was able to procure. Hopefully it will be enough.

Opening her shirt again, he touches the skin once more; she is cold to the touch, colder than before. Swallowing, he pulls out his knife and sterilizes it with a lighter. Placing one hand on her arm, he makes circles with his thumb, not only holding her in place, but hopefully providing some kind of comfort to her.

"Here we go," he says, and digs the knife into her skin. Not surprised in the least when she cries out slightly. "Shhhh, Max. You have to be quiet, ok?"

"Hurts, Alec… oh god, stop."

"I can't, Max -- if I don't get this out, it could get infected and kill you."

He can hear her stifle a sob of agony, and tries to hurry, slicing through her skin, making the hole slightly bigger until he feels the tip find resistance. The bullet. Putting the knife aside, he grabs a pair of tweezers he bought at a kiosk. Pushing the tweezers through blood now seeping out of the wound, he quickly finds his target and grabs hold, pulling quickly.

As the projectile exits her skin, Max lets out a sigh of relief, and he drops the bullet on the ground, the hollow plinking sound as it hits the concrete almost deafening.

Unfortunately, his job is only half done. She is bleeding more profusely, and Alec wonders for a moment how she has any sustenance left in her body. 

Pulling off his shirt, Alec presses it to the wound, willing the staunch of blood to slow. Leaning over her, he is relieved to see that she is still awake.

"Hey, Max. How you doing?" He runs the hand not holding his shirt across her sweat-covered brow.

"Oh-okay," she stammers, obviously racked with pain. "Still have to cauterize."

It's a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, but you have to stop bleeding first."

"I…I'll work on that."

He cracks a small smile. "Thanks."

"Th-thanks," she says into the silence.

"For what? Saving your ass? You've done it for me a lot."

She snorts lightly. "Y-yeah. I guess we-we are past thanks."

"Yeah, I'd say so, babe."

"I-I'm sorry, Alec. If..if we take down Man-Manticore, we need to make time."

Time for them. For their potential future, a future they had tiptoed around for two plus years now.

"We will. I promise, Max."

Pulling away from her slightly, he checks the shirt; the blood has eased, her transgenic healing abilities doing their job.

"It's time."

Again she nods, and closes her eyes tightly. This is going to hurt worse than pulling the lead out of her back.

Grabbing his knife again, he cleans the blood off and again holds it under the lighter. When it glows red, he pulls it away, hesitating for just a moment. 

"Ready?" he asks.

"Just…do it," she hisses at him through clenched teeth.

Leaving her laying on her side, and without further preamble, he applies the hot knife to her skin, almost pulling away from her when her body arches away from him in response to the pain. Allowing his training to kick in, Alec wraps one arm around her chest, while keeping the knife applied to her back, holding her in place. 

"Just a couple more seconds…" he whispers at her, guilt flooding him as he sees the tears springing from her eyes. Alec would trade places with her in a second if he could. The sizzling of her skin is almost unbearable for him; he's hurting her, something that Alec promised a long time ago he would never do….

_"I promise to never leave you, or let anyone hurt you again, Max. I may be a bastard sometimes, and moderately unreliable, but I never, ever renig on my friends."_

The smell of her skin burning permeates the air, and Alec hopes it's only his transgenically- enhanced sense that allows him to smell it. Because if the smell is too strong, one of the many people walking by on the other side of the plastic sheeting might notice, blowing their cover.

After several seconds that feel like hours, Alec pulls the knife away and inspects the wound. The cauterizing has accomplished its goal; the ragged edges of the hole are now seared together, stopping the bleeding. Alec knows that Max's body will heal itself from the inside, but for now she needs rest, and there's no way they can get on the six o'clock flight. It's already 5:30. He'll have to leave her again, to contact Manticore, before they send out a search team for them.

Turning his attention back to her, he notices Max shivering slightly.

"Max, you ok?"

"Yeah, just cold."

"I know, hang on."

Getting up, Alec grabs her bag and pulls out the low-rise jeans, long sleeved black shirt, grey hoodie and thick socks. Returning to her, he assists Max in stripping out of the suit and redressing in the warmer and more comfortable clothes. 

Laying her back on her side, Alec curls up behind Max and pulls her cold body into his. He had tried to find supplies to perform a blood transfusion, but was unsuccessful; the best he can hope for is that her stem cells regenerate quickly. 

Wrapping his long arms around her, Alec nuzzles his face into her hair, and for once in his life, hopes they can get back to Manticore soon.

tbc………………………………


	22. 007

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 22

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: I think my choice of writing name will become very clear this chapter. As will where I live if you concentrate. Keeping that in mind…all the extra non-Cameron created characters have names of famous people or other TV show characters. As an example…Dr Olivet is named after a Law & Order character who is a female. Mostly cause I suck at naming people. I bet y'all can guess the new name in this chapter. 

AN2: Again a million thanks for the reviews. Most appreciated…please keep it up!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 22: 007

Several hours later, Alec wakes up and looks around. They are in the same position as before, with Max curled tightly into his body, practically every part of her touching him. It's pitch black now, and much quieter in the airport -- the number of travelers decreasing as it gets later and later. Alec can only imagine that Olivet is going ballistic -- two of his best "units" gone AWOL. He chuckles internally at the thought.

Adjusting his eyes to the lack of light, Alec looks over at his companion, who is sleeping deeply. He can hear her breathing, see her eyes moving under her lids in time with whatever dream her subconscious had come up with. _Hopefully, she's dreaming of a beach in __Hawaii__._

Leaning over her, he takes in her skin pallor, which is distinctly less blue than before, and he breathes a sigh of relief. Reaching out, he touches her cheek. She's warmer, too.

_Thank you, thank you,_ he thinks to no one in particular.

He has to contact Manticore, but he's not even sure how overdue they are. The cell he had with them is probably being pulled apart by Enviro security by now-it had been abandoned in the escape. Without inputting a four-digit access code, however, the phone won't function. Attempting it even once will send the phone into self-destruct mode, destroying the small computer inside and rendering it useless. Plus, he needs to book them two flights out of here. Regretfully he shakes her lightly, and she mumbles in response. Something about leaving her the hell alone.

"Max, wake up a second."

"What?" Her voice is drenched with sleep.

"I'm going to book us two flights out and contact Manticore, ok?"

"Mmmm, fine. Sleep." She waves him away.

"How you feeling?" he asks before she slips completely under.

"Tired! Now go." She is slightly more awake now, and annoyed. Alec smiles slightly; she is feeling better.

Getting up, he again covers her with his suit coat and disappears into the crowd.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Jacob heaves a sigh of relief and hangs up the phone. They had been found: 494 had contacted his handler on the secure line. 452 is seriously injured, but alive, and according to 494, well enough to travel back to base. They should be in Boise by noon. 

Standing, he enters Olivet's office and relays the information. The director seems less than pleased that 452 has been injured, but considering the alternative, he's satisfied with the outcome. 

Closing the door and going back to his office, Jacob arranges for a med team to meet the two transgenics at the airport and transport them directly to the infirmary. Hanging up the phone, he considers the fortunate bad luck of 452 being shot. With any luck, Olivet will hold off on any attempts to impregnate her, at least long enough for Jacob to start in motion the end of Manticore. 

Standing once more, Jacob heads to medical; he needs to delay her in vitro as long as possible. A pregnant X5 is no good to anyone in this situation. Besides, the whole idea of forcing pregnancy on 452 is yet another notch on the atrocities committed by his employer. Atrocities he and his friends are attempting to rectify.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Landing in Boise, Alec grabs Max's hand and she leans into him slightly. To anyone watching, it would appear that they are two young people in love, but the reality is he is supporting her, keeping her from fainting on the floor and causing more attention than they need. 

Bending down, he looks at her face under the Red Wings hat he bought her. Despite the pulse and the near destruction of professional sports, the Detroit team had thrived along with 6 others that played each other in an abbreviated version of a hockey season. Somehow, Detroit had weathered the pulse the best of any major city; detractors had claimed it was a commentary on the archaic record-keeping within the city, since the systems were so old and rarely even used, there was nothing to destroy. Others claimed it was the presence of the big three automakers who pulled them through, bringing in tech consultants from other countries to restore what was lost.

Either way, he easily found her a hat to conceal her ashen face. Giving her a quick once over, Alec notes that she is still looking a little too pale for his liking; her transgenic blood should have replenished itself by now. But that could be him being overprotective.

Leading her down to baggage claim, Alec nearly turns away and runs when he sees who is there to greet them. The doctor who had erased their memories and two lackeys. Alec harbors a hatred of this man, Dr. Thomas Brady, which rivals that for Richard Olivet. This is the man that he watched destroy Max and steal her memories (and probably his for that matter), and it's the first time he has seen him in person since. Alec would give anything to rip his still beating heart out of his chest and show it to him a second before he dies. 

Narrowing his eyes as they close the distance, he is none too pleased when the lackeys come up and attempt to remove Max from his grasp.

"I have her."

"494, we will take care of her."

"I think not. Someone at Manticore nearly got us killed. Step. Back." His tone holds no room for argument, and for an instant, Alec worries that he's allowing too much "Alec" out in front of Manticore employees.

Fortunately, the two idiots take the hint and merely watch closely as he places her in the back of the SUV. Sliding in next to her, Alec releases his hold and distances himself from her, allowing the doctor to inspect the wound. He hopes that the slip he had made earlier will be disregarded as mere X5 emotion and independence.

He is silent the entire ride back, and endures a physical before they release him to debrief with the handler, and presumably Olivet since the mission went sideways. He is reluctant to leave Max with the Manticore doctors, especially Brady, but sees no other choice. There's nothing he can do for her now anyway. Glancing at Max as he leaves the medical center, she gives him a small smile as the doctors start an IV administration of some good old X5 blood. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

"That's it, 494?" his handler asks. Alec doesn't actually know the mans name.

"Yes, sir!" 

"Well, we are very happy to see you and 452 back in one piece. Additionally, very nice job of completing the mission."

"Thank you, sir!"

Alec sneaks a look at Olivet, who has been standing in the corner watching silently as the handler debriefed him on the mission. The guy makes Alec nervous; he always seems to have that damn self-satisfying smirk on his face. _If that's the same smirk I get on my face, no wonder Max hated me._

"You're dismissed, 494."

"Sir, may I ask how we were found out?"

"That's no matter, the situation was cleaned up. You don't need to worry about it."

"Understood sir." He clips and exits crisply, relaxing some when he hits the hall. Alec has a bad feeling that Olivet is up to something, but he has nothing aside from gut instinct telling him that. _Or maybe he knows…_

That would be the worst option, though if he knew they had regained their memories, why would Olivet risk sending them out on a mission? Unless his egotistical ass knew they would come back. 

_Damn…I hate this James Bond shit. I'd take a hands-on fight over this any day._

Suddenly, a hand snakes out and grabs the transgenic, pulling him into an infrequently used service corridor.

Olivet stands silent for several minutes before addressing the handler. "You trust his story?"

"Yes, sir. It's very similar to reports from Detroit."

"Do we know what happened?"

"Yes, sir. Apparently the maintenance company called and tried to make an appointment for their techs to come by. Tipped Enviro off."

Olivet nods slowly and purses his lips. "What do you make of 494's behavior at the airport? Security reports his behavior was unusual."

"It was an isolated incident I would imagine. Those 5's have a habit of being protective of their own kind. I've seen it happen. Plus, they were breeding partners, 494 was only shielding his mate."

Olivet works his lower jaw back and forth, contemplating what the handler had told him. The other man is probably right -- the independent and protective nature of the X5's had been removed from preceding series, for good reason. Oddly though, even the 6's had developed a less dominating need to watch each other's backs. Only the 5 series though would disregard a direct order based on their emotional feelings about something or someone. Both 452 and 494 are proof of that. He still needs to keep a close eye on them. Something doesn't add up. It's just a feeling, but Olivet suspects he is being played somehow.

Terminal City

"MOLE! MOLE!" The small transgenic screams at the top of his lungs from Alec's office out the partially open door. Last Dix knew Mole was in central command, watching the monitors. "Dammit!" He sighs to himself and gets up, not seeing Mole anywhere. He only gets a strange look from Dara, the X6 on monitor duty.

He gives her an apologetic grin as he runs by her, coming to a stop at the edge of command, looking over the railing into the garage like area below. _Ah ha!_

"MOLE!" he shouts, and everyone below stops what they are doing and regards Dix oddly.

"What? Haven't we discussed using our indoor voice?" Mole had heard the expression somewhere recently and latched onto it for no reason other than it amused him.

"Get up here. We got it!" With that, Dix turns and rushes back into the office, giddy with excitement.

Several minutes later, Mole ambles into the office, his shotgun placed neatly by the door. "What's up, man?"

Dix holds up the list of 40 plus names of former scientists and then shows him the Manticore site list.

Mole regards him quietly, a little unsure where he is going. "Ohhkay. I thought we already decided that's useless really, aside from those people backing up our story, which they probably wouldn't."

"Well that's just it. Logan and Eyes Only have been trying to track down some of the people on this list. Can't find them."

"OK, so they are dead. Sounds like Manticore's program to me. Everyone's expendable."

"No, no. When he couldn't find record of them after employment at Manticore, well the adoption assistance program that IS Manticore, he started pulling some personnel lists from the sites listed. Since they are 'non-profits', it was easy to find, since all non-profits have to have all their employees checked by the government to make sure they aren't connected with illegal activities." Dix pauses and takes a breath. "Anyway…every name he has checked so far…are CURRENT employees at the sites. Not former."

Mole looks momentarily confused. "So what? Why would the guy give Alec a list of current….ohhhhhh. Oh my god!"

"Yes!" Dix jumps up, bringing the list of names closer into focus. "This isn't a list of former scientists on the run. It's a list of current scientists. Willing to expose Manticore."

tbc………………………………


	23. Information Explosion

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 23

Author: CSIphile

AN: You guys rock so hard, I didn't realize how many reviews I had for this fic. I've never had so many for any fandom I've written. I love it…just love it. Please, keep it up! I love to hear what you think, and it's so inspiring for the next fic!

AN2: Coming down the home stretch here. About 5 chapter left to go…sniffle, its kinda sad really. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 23: Information Explosion

Before Alec even speaks, he shoots out one hand, capturing the other person around the neck, pushing them into the opposite wall, and pinning them forcibly. 

"Can I help you?" the X asks sweetly, his voice a stark contrast to the fire burning in his green eyes. This guy seems to be around Olivet a lot, and in Alec's estimation, that means he's trouble. 

"You…like that….disk?" the man chokes out between gasps of breath.

Alec's hold on the man's throat loosens somewhat. _THIS is their man on the inside? _Quickly he sizes up the human. Alec never would have figured Olivet's right hand man for a traitor.

"Yeah, nice info. So you're the guy?"

"Yeah…I'm the guy."

Alec narrows his eyes at the man. "How do I know you aren't working for Olivet? That you won't turn me in?"

"You don't, but you have to believe me," Jacob responds.

"Why?"

"There was more information on that disk than you ever could have dreamed. Hopefully by now, your TC counterparts have realized that."

"How…?" He's quickly tiring of asking the questions.

"How did I know you would transmit the data? Come on, Alec, I'm not dumb."

He is almost startled by his name being uttered by someone beside Max; it sounds foreign to him. Alec slowly releases the man, but leaves his arm on the wall next to Jacob, making it clear that the wrong move would cause the assistant serious pain.

"You HAVE to trust me. Meet me before lights out in the old classrooms with no cameras. You'll get your answers."

Alec stands, stunned, as the man straightens his shirt and walks away from the transgenic. And is even more stunned to realize that they had been standing in a cameraless corridor. 

_This human is smarter than I give him credit for, _he muses, and continues on his path back to his room. As much as he wants to visit Max, he's guessing that the doctors won't just let him in. THAT would certainly raise eyebrows.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max wakes to relief from her constant pain. Through the drugs, her first instinct is to call Alec's name, but she stops herself. 

Fluttering her eyes open against the harsh lighting, she takes a look around. She's in the med ward all right -- last in a line of white hospital beds along one wall. On the other wall are various cabinets supposedly holding medical supplies. The doorway is, of course, on the opposite end of where she is, which happens to be right under a large window that encompasses almost the entire wall. It's almost dark now, as the blazing oranges and reds of the sunset come through the tint on the window and light the ward in an amazing display. The reflective medical equipment in the room bounces the sun's rays off every possible surface.

She hears movement from her right side and sees Olivet lounging against the wall with the window, staring out onto the massive grass training fields with an expression that Max can only define as satisfaction.

Without even turning, he addresses her. "Nice to see you awake, 452."

"Yes, sir. Glad to be alive, sir."

"I'm sure you are. The wound wasn't serious, but you could have bled out. Thankfully, 494's field med training saved you."

"Yes, sir." She isn't sure where he is going with this. This ass acted unlike any director she had the displeasure of serving under. Even Lydecker was a joy in comparison.

"Your handler will be down later to debrief you. Dr. Brady says you'll be cleared tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir. I look forward to my next assignment."

"I'm sure you do, 452. We have a special one just for you." With that, Olivet turns and walks away, leaving a very confused transgenic in his wake.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dix looks at Mole, contemplating. "Did you ever find out who Jason's boss was?"

"No, the little bastard refuses to give it up. All I managed to get was that he missed Manticore for some reason and thought that by turning in Max and Alec that would happen."

 Dix shakes his head. "He cant see that Manticore was only out for their own good, screw us? He's in lockdown right?"

"Apparently he saw Manticore in a different light. Yeah, he's good and locked down, I've got Ethan watching him."

Dix sighs loudly, but moves on, obviously Jason hadn't seen the good that has come from being free, he only misses what he knew -- stability. Understandable -- to a point. "Ok, so we have a list of all the turncoats, the name of the shell Manticore hides in. So what do we do with it?"

"Dix, little man, tactical was never my forte. I'm more of a…shoot 'em up kinda lizard."

"I sent it all to Logan -- maybe he can come up with something….."

Mole suddenly sits up in his chair, almost startling Dix out of his. "Come on, man -- first day at Manticore: what do they teach you about attacking multiple sites?"

"Do it simultaneously," the smaller man responds, the answer dawning on him.

Mole smiles and his grin is quickly matched by Dix's. "You are a tactical genius, Mole! And I can't believe I didn't think of it too!"

"Well thankfully we didn't have to embarrass ourselves by asking the X's for help. That would have been ego-deflating." 

Dix snorts in response and the lizard throws his hands up.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alec slowly approaches the double doors to the old classroom facilities. It was behind this building that Max and Alec had made a promise. It felt like an eternity ago, but in reality, it was only a week. Pausing, he listens to the utter silence, trying to detect an army ready to strike. Sensing nothing, he draws closer to the doors; they have the old u-shaped handles, about waist-high. There is chain link running through both handles, with a key lock attached to the ends, securing the door closed. Alec was about to complain about how he hadn't exactly brought his lock picking tools when he notices the lock may appear closed, but the arm is not inserted into the mechanism -- it's just above it, so it's not locked at all.

Pulling the lock away, he yanks the chain off the doors, and Alec flinches at the grinding sound of metal against metal as the chain slips noisily to the floor. Again he pauses to see if anyone heard him.

They hadn't. _Or were pretending not to.___

Opening one door, Alec leaves himself enough room to squeeze through, and closes the door behind him. Taking one step into the room, his senses are on full alert, searching for anything indicating this might be a trap.

He's in a small classroom; there is just enough light from the sunset to illuminate the dusty, abandoned room, which is devoid of anything except a chalkboard and one desk on his left. Some of the windowpanes are broken out, and a few have been covered with small pieces of plywood before whoever was doing it gave up or left. A thin layer of dust covers every surface, the once white walls a dull gray from dirt and inattention. The ceiling is old 4-by-4 square tiles -- most missing, the rest weathered and falling out of their resting places. One fluorescent light swings at half-mast in the middle of the room. It gives Alec a creepy feeling.

Sauntering around the perimeter of the room, Alec comes to a stop at the desk in front of the chalkboard and leans against it lightly, not wanting to get too much grime on his camos. 

He doesn't have to wait long before the creaking of the door hinges alerts him to someone else entering the room. Swiftly he stands up, posed in a fighting stance, ready to go on the offensive.

He is mildly relived to see Jacob, and only Jacob, enter the room and close the door as Alec had earlier. The transgenic keeps his eyes focused on Jacob, looking for any indication of deceit. That's something Alec can read from years of dealing with not always dependable suppliers.

Alec merely nods in the other man's direction. Jacob asked for this meeting, not him. 

Jacob approaches, and stops a few feet from Alec, obviously not wanting to get too close after the incident in the hall earlier.

"49- Alec. Glad to see you came."

"Well, you've got me all curious now. You know how we cats are." He stares down the other man, making it perfectly clear Alec is not human and capable of destroying him in a second.

"Yes, I'm well aware." Jacob pauses, but when he realizes Alec isn't going to talk, he continues. "Why don't I start by introducing myself? Jacob Arnot, personal assistant and lackey to Dr. Richard Olivet, site director. You can call me Jake."

"'K, _Jake_. Why'd you call me here?"

"There is a group of us here at Manticore who have come to despise what Manticore has become…"

Alec cuts him off. "Like it was sunshine and roses before, buddy."

"You have no idea, Alec. In the years since the Seattle site was exposed, the pressure on the remaining facilities has been unbearable. The Grand Committee needed to see results, and fast, to prove to their funders that the project could continue despite the interruption you and 452 caused. Manticore used any means necessary to create the perfect soldier, and the remaining 5's underwent some serious behavior modification, unlike anything I'd ever seen. Manticore literally rewired their brains, making them more pliant, less likely to rebel against their creator, but they could still pass as human." Jacob pauses and looks down.

"And that was just the start. They tried producing new soldiers in test tubes -- failures. The X's only got pregnant a small percentage of the time if they weren't in heat, and with heat cycles only coming every 3 months and putting the solider out of commission, that wasn't considered the best alternative."

"Wait…why didn't they do what they used to? Surrogates?"

"You try finding a willing surrogate after the information explosion from the Seattle disaster. Any healthy women of child-bearing age were hard to find besides we couldn't risk them talking, it would be exposure the Grand Committee didn't want, too risky. We've been flying under the radar for a long time, Alec."

"What started our small crusade against Manticore were the fetuses. It wasn't real to any of us until I saw a baby that…wasn't human, transgenic or transhuman. It was a horrible attempt at speeding up gestation periods. And they kept on trying. Babies were being born after 3 or 4 months in the womb -- sometimes of normal size, but always with a "defect" that Manticore deemed unacceptable. And let's just leave it at they didn't keep the undesirables anymore. Learned their lesson. Not to mention what they were doing to the ones that made it, experimentation on a level I'd never seen."

"That was two years ago, a year after your "Freak Nation" was created. Since then, I've gathered the sympathy of quite a few people within Manticore."

By now the sun had nearly set, and there was only a silver of light keeping the room lit. Alec was fine, but he suspected that his companion was having a difficult time seeing -- as evidenced by the man's constant squinting. 

"So it was ok when they did it to us, but when the experiments inflamed your senses, you do something?"

"Look, Alec. I don't think any of us really understood what was going on. I wasn't where I am now when I started here. We didn't know…."

"Yeah, whatever, man. Too late for us now anyway." His tone is bitter.

"Its not too late, Alec -- despite your background, despite who you really are. You are thriving -- you and all your brethren on the outside."

Instantly, Alec's face darkens. "It's a real joy. Having to steal food, not being able to leave Terminal City without fear of being killed, the constant threat from our own government and that jackass White and the familiars. Exactly what I always wanted."

"You're free, Alec -- you can make your own decisions. Babies are born without barcodes-free to live a life without maneuvers, training and torture. Yeah, it's hard, and survival is a struggle, but it's improving for you every day. You have hope now, Alec, something you never had here."

Alec looks down and realizes Jacob is right. Alec knew all this when his life on the outside started. But somehow between then and now, he had forgotten it all. So consumed with the daily struggles to live, and making sure everyone around him did too, he had lost sight of the goal: True freedom. To live on the outside alongside the humans, not feared by them. And Alec knows it will happen….eventually.

"What do we do?"

"That disk."

"Yeah, with the names and…."

Alec stands a little straighter, and suddenly he realizes the true nature of the information. _That was the list of traitors, of turncoats within the system._

"Yes, and by now TC also should have figured it out. What we need to happen is a simultaneous release of information and uprising by us. Also on that disk is the corporation Manticore hides under."

"Why were you waiting?" Alec questions.

"Because we were missing one thing. Someone so powerful in the upper echelon of government that this news could come directly from the White House. If our group attempted this, we would be squashed before the information could make it to the public. If TC tried it, the public would dismiss it as transgenic rhetoric. It needs to start high, and then we can stop Manticore from going to Plan B upon exposure."

"Cauterizing the sites." Alec takes one step toward Jake. "You want Eyes Only to find that person in the government."

Jake flinches slightly at Alec's movements but doesn't back away. "He's pro-transgenic and seems to have connections to both Terminal City and DC. It's our only choice, especially since you and Max appeared at our doorstep."

Alec contemplates this. It's everything they ever wanted on a silver platter. But he's also suspicious; it's almost too good to be true. That's when it occurs to him. 

"How did you know? That I wasn't 494 anymore?"

"I'd had my suspicions. Your handler let me in on some information -- he's one of the good guys. I made sure you were assigned to him when you came in."

"Ok, great. But what if we never regained our memories? Then what?"

"Oh, you would have. Eventually."

"What the hell does that mean?" Alec is getting annoyed with the man's non-answers. Suddenly he smells something, another person, just outside the door. He hadn't been there before, Alec is sure of that. He sends a glare toward Jacob before directing his voice at the mystery person. "Or maybe the man behind door number one would like to answer."

The other person emerges from his hiding hole and Alec has to hold back his shock. It's the last person he was expecting.

tbc…………………….


	24. Levels of

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 24

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Pssst…Mrs Ackels, check NWP for the answer to your question. Also…I don't know from erasing peoples memories, all the information in this chapter is purely made up, unless of course its right, and in that case I did extensive research to make sure it was correct. Heh.

AN2: You all rock, you all rock…lalalalala. Thank you for the nearly 200 reviews on FF…its unreal to me. And deeply, deeply appreciated. Once this is all posted Ill have time to read y'alls and leave reviews for you! I have a hard time focusing on writing and reading at the same time, Im always afraid that someone else's idea will lodge in my subconscious and Ill write it without realizing. It's a problem for me….

Anyway….who was our mystery man? The old foe Lydecker? The supposedly evil director Olivet? Find out this week on Days of Our….oh wait…wrong Jensen show. My bad.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 24: Levels of….

"Well, this is a surprise," Alec says as the other man walks into the now almost dark room. It's slightly illuminated by the florescent lights from the training grounds a mere hundred yards away.

"Alec."

"For someone who is one of the good guys, you really know how to hide it." Alec's tone is accusatory. 

"It's not like I had a choice…"

Alec steps forward, closing the distance between them. He may be a good guy, but that doesn't mean Alec has to like him. "Sure you did. You didn't _have _to stick those probes in our heads and take our lives away. Our memories."

"Yes, I did." Brady's voice is hard, but Alec has to give him credit for not backing away from the approaching transgenic. "If I had refused, I'd be dead now. Someone else would have done the procedure the right way and you NEVER would have regained your memory. You and your girlfriend would still be Manticore property, happily going about your killing ways."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Alec pauses his approach, contemplating the other man's words.

"Science has come a long way since your last visit to re-indoctrination, Alec. We can pinpoint a memory and erase all of it or only certain parts. For 45-Max, we erased all her memories of 493, due to his resemblance to you, and everything since she got out in '09. Replaced it with someone else's memory store. You were easier; three years gone. But there are _levels_ to erasure, Alec."

Brady walks to the chalkboard and finds a dusted over piece of chalk. After wiping it on his lab coat, Brady writes one word on the board.

Terminal City

"You can erase the whole thing." With one hand he wipes the word entirely from view, and then rewrites it. "Or…you can erase just the top couple layers and write over it." Again he wipes his hand over the words, but instead of erasing them, he leaves just a ghost of the word. Picking up the chalk again, he writes directly over Terminal City.

Manticore. 

Terminal City is still slightly visible behind Manticore, but you had to work at it to make out all the letters. 

"The principal is the same, Alec. We…skimmed off the memories, removing the top layers and writing over it. We left the basic elements, hoping that in time, your transgenic healing would eventually shed the new memories and reveal the old."

Alec just stands there, stunned. They hadn't miraculously regained their memories after all. It is quite a feat, Alec can admit, and he's impressed as hell.

"When did you know?" he chokes out, his eyes never leaving the two intersecting words on the board.

"Your handler started to suspect something when Max went into heat. She tested negative for pregnancy, which was confounding. I explained it away as an aberration, possibly because of her time on the outside, and assured Olivet her next cycle would be productive. And if she's not pregnant…" Brady is cut off by Alec. 

"We have to be out of here by then. No way will Max let herself get impregnated. And no way I'll do it."

"Actually, you need to leave sooner. When she has recovered from her bullet wound, they are going to start the in vitro process. You have maybe two days before they harvest from you both."

"Oh, Christ," he mutters and runs one hand through his hair. "She won't…."

"I'll let it go as far as harvesting, but I'll try and hold off implantation as long as I can. No guarantees though."

Finally Jacob speaks up. "You can't let them do that to her, Alec -- once they are done messing with its genetic code, it probably won't be a baby anymore. I've read her file -- Max would never allow Manticore to have her child. I suspect she would reveal she isn't who they think before allowing it. I cant help you here, as it is I've already had to call in a favor with the Seattle police."

Alec narrows his eyes at the other man. "Seattle? Why?"

"Olivet thought it would put the transgenics on edge if there was a sudden increase in police presence. Maybe cause them to do something that would allow him to come in and exert control over Terminal City. It was his backup plan; I took care of it, a Detective Clemente was happy to help since he didn't know what was going on either. We managed to call off the extra security without arousing suspicion."

"Thank you…."

It's all rushing around in his head, and Alec has to take a deep breath. He needs a plan, and fast. He looks up at the other men in the room. He hates this, he is putting his and Max's lives in the hands of men who at one time were the enemy. Alec has nothing but instinct telling him they are on the up and up, and won't go running to Olivet to expose the whole thing. Logic tells him though, that they wouldn't expose themselves so much if what they said wasn't true. First rule of getting the enemy to trust you is only give out the minimum amount of information, and charm the hell out of them. These two are neither charming nor quiet, which goes a long way in Alec's book in convincing him of their intentions. 

Sighing, he jumps into the ocean. "Ok, is there any way to contact TC? We need to coordinate. I assume you can contact the people on the inside?"

"Yes, I can. And I might be able to arrange something regarding TC. We have someone in IT who might be able to help us," Jacob responds.

"Good, and you…" He points at Brady. "You….hold things up as best you can."

Brady nods at him. 

"Why do I feel like we are missing a piece of this puzzle? And that Alec has it?" Mole asks his smaller counterpart and the human on the telecom. Somehow Logan and Dix had set up an international video conference call. Mole doesn't know how they do it.

"Yeah, I'm getting that idea, too," Logan replies, with no small amount of annoyance in his voice.

Dix chimes in from his seat in front of the computer. "Well, we can expose all the sites and their true nature and go over the atrocities with the media, blah blah…but that doesn't mean anyone will believe us."

"Exactly. We need someone at a higher level to expose this mess. The Seattle incident, while national news, has faded into obscurity. People don't realize it's still going on," Logan comments, and chews his bottom lip lightly.

"Maybe that's why whoever this is has been sitting on this information," Mole propositions.

"Probably," Logan says and purses his lips.

Mole knows he has an idea, and isn't in the mood for Logan's typical "tell you at the last minute" behavior. "What you thinking, man?"

"I might know someone who can help. A well-respected senator who has been pro-transgenic since the beginning. I checked him out a while ago to be sure he was on the up and up. I'll double check and let you guys know."

Mole grumbles slightly, but he and Dix agree. "We will let you know if we hear from them," Mole comments.

"Thanks," the cyber hacker sighs just before signing off.

Mole looks at Dix after the connection is clear and frowns slightly. "You ever get the feeling he still loves her?"

"Yeah, I always feel bad."

Mole just shrugs. "She made her choice. Hopefully we will hear from Alec soon."

"Yeah, did you also notice the cops have backed off some?"

"Yeah, what the hell is going on around here?"

"No idea, man," Dix comments and turns back to the computer. He refuses to leave until he hears from them. One way or the other.

Two Days Later

Manticore, Idaho

Alec looks up from taping his hands and finds a beautiful face standing right in front of him. He restrains a smile from cracking across his own face, as they are surrounded by unit mates. He hasn't seen her since leaving her in medical two days ago. Alec had no doubt that she was all right; if they can bring a man back after shooting himself in the head, then they could take care of a bullet wound. But there is a difference between knowing she is ok and seeing her in person, whole and well. 

"Good to see you back, 452."

"Glad to be back."

They are all business as she mimics his movements, taping her hands up for a round of sparring.

"Ready for me to beat the hell out of you?"

She smirks at him. "Only in your dreams, pal."

He smiles and leads them to a small area of the gym, away from the others. Straightening up, he cracks his neck and gets into fighting stance. She purses her lips at him and sets her feet on the blue mat. He lunges at her first, and she ducks him easily.

"Jeez, 494. I'm not human -- you can come after me harder than that." To accentuate her point, she gets in a punch to his ribs.

"Hey, just trying to go easy on the lady." He winks at her.

She rolls her eyes at him and dodges another swing. For several minutes they spar lightly, each occasionally getting in a hit before he speaks.

"How are you? Really?"

"Fine, really." She smiles at him. _God, I would do anything for that smile._

"Good, 'cause if we are going to do something, it's going to be sooner rather than later."

"Why the rush all of a sudden?"

"I met our man on the inside."

Her eyes widen somewhat. "Really?"

Quickly he details the conversation he had, and those involved -- his photographic memory allowing him to recall the conversation word by word, if needed. 

"They already tested you for pregnancy, but obviously it was negative. Everyone's favorite Manticore dictator was not pleased. He is getting serious pressure from the Grand Committee to produce more soldiers, by any means necessary."

"Damn," she hisses. "When?"

"I don't know… anytime. Let them harvest, Max -- you won't be implanted. We should be long gone, and this place will be exposed by then."

She nods slightly and sighs. "How are you going to contact Dix and Mole?"

"It's been arranged for a few hours tomorrow. I'm thinking 36 hours after that we strike, if they can get organized in time. Hopefully Logan knows someone."

She nods. "He probably does, knowing him. What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing, Max, not until it happens."

"But…"

"No arguments, Max, you need to be one hundred percent. Besides, how many transgenics does it take to send an email?" He smiles. 

She grumbles, but agrees.

Any more discussion is cut off by the handler approaching. They both come to a quick attention.

"After training, you are both to report to Brady in medical."

"Yes, sir!" they respond in unison.

The handler gives them a quick smile, almost so faint that if they hadn't been super soldiers, they would have missed it.

She turns back to him, an unreadable expression on her face. "I don't want to have to do this."

His face softens and Alec resists the urge to hug her. "I know, but we can't tip our hand yet."

"I know. I just don't want them having any part of me. But especially that part."

He nods and they go back to sparring. "You know, I've been thinking."

"Oh no…."

He gives her a look and continues. "The only unknown in this equation is the other transgenics. Who knows what will happen when they realize what's going on."

She purses her lips and ducks a swing. "Hopefully, it will be like Seattle. Once the doors are open, they run."

"Yeah, but now the government will know they exist, all wrapped up for them. This might be more than we can handle Max."

She is silent for a while. He lands a hit on her shoulder, and she swipes his feet out from under him. Leaning over his prone form on the mat, she finally speaks. "When you talk to Dix tomorrow, make sure they can assure the transgenics freedom, wherever they decide to go." She shrugs. "Maybe they will want to stay here under their own rule, but that has to be part of the deal."

"That might be harder than you think, Max."

"Try, Alec. If not…we may need a new plan."

"No time for…"

"I know, Alec, so use those charming techniques of yours and get them to do it."

"Didn't realize you thought so highly of my techniques." He waggles his eyebrows at her.

"I don't know, I haven't seen them all yet. Have I?"

"Not by a long shot," he comments, and she smiles broadly at him.

tbc……………….


	25. Thank You, Come Again

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 25

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Thank you to everyone! Nearing 200 reviews, that's astounding! Please, from the bottom of my warmed little heart, keep up the reviews. I love reading them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 25: Thank You, Come Again

He walks out of the lab room and shudders slightly. That had to be the most unpleasant thing he'd ever been forced to do, and Manticore made him do a lot of things. But he couldn't exactly refuse to give up the goods; that would certainly send up a red flag and get him shipped to Olivet right quick. 

Then again, compared to what they have to do to Max to get her half of the genetic equation, he got off lucky. Again he shudders; he can only imagine what the geneticists are going to do to the embryo's DNA.

_Your embryo, Alec.__ YOURS and Max's. Something that could grow into a child if Manticore isn't allowed to play Frankenstein. _

Until now, it hadn't occurred to him that it's not just a fetus, it's a baby -- _their_ baby that is having its DNA twisted and turned into something unrecognizable even to him. 

_That's a baby -- my child. Not a fetus, not an experiment. A baby, _his mind screams at him, but Alec is forced to push it away. He can't afford to contemplate the words, because if he does, Alec isn't sure that he won't try to stop Manticore. He can't assign parentage to it, can't get attached to the idea of a baby.

Rubbing his hands together unconsciously, Alec turns the corner and runs into Jake, who is looking distinctly worried.

"Ah! I found you."

"You knew where I was," he replies tersely. Alec may be helping the guy, but he doesn't have to be friendly. 

"Come on, we have to get you to IT," The smaller man says, and turns back in the direction he came, assuming Alec will follow like a lost puppy.

Of course, Alec does. "Now?" he asks.

"Now or never. The firewall is undergoing maintenance, so it's the best time. You have just barely 30 minutes." Jake pushes open the double doors from medical into the hall.

"Ok," Alec says, and looks over his shoulder at the doors swinging from their exit, wondering how Max is.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She lies on the table and stares at the white tiled ceiling -- anything to keep her mind off what they are doing, which is proving to be harder than she thought. At first it wasn't bad; Brady was fussing around doing whatever he needed to do. But when she felt a pinprick of pain, the reality of what was going on was driven home.

They are harvesting her eggs. _Her eggs._To create a life that doesn't want to exist, that isn't meant to be right now. They will take her eggs, fertilize them with Alec's sperm and create a baby, who is then destined to have its genetic code screwed with in an effort to create an army even faster. 

She bites her lip, stifling the tears that threaten to flow, stopping her from putting a halt to it all and exposing her true nature. She is allowing these….scientists…access to her body, violating her in the worst way. And she is permitting it by lying prone, when in an instant, both the doctors and nurse could be on the floor, dead -- never allowed to continue the process. Max hates herself right now. She has become what she hates, what she pictured her mother as so many times; a woman who essentially sold her body. 

For her entire life, she has hated herself, detested where she came from -- a test tube -- and wondered how a woman in her right mind would do this, would give up a child for a small fee. But she isn't doing it for money, Max is doing it to preserve her freedom, and everyone else's, but the principal is the same, regardless. 

She sucks in a deep breath when she feels another internal prick. She doesn't know exactly what they are doing, but she wishes they would hurry the hell up. Luckily, her wish is granted.

"You're done, 452. Head to your quarters and rest for at least 6 hours. There might be some bleeding, but that's normal. If it's heavy, come back," Brady says with little emotion.

She knows he is a good guy, but it's all she can do not to punch that blank expression off his face. "Yes, sir."

She gets down slowly, noticing some soreness in her abdomen, and walks slowly to her room, sinking into the cot and finally allowing tears to stream down her face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alec walks into the near empty communications center and sits at the instructed terminal. Jake has assured him that the cameras would be off in the room and any communication would not be recorded in the database. Manticore backs up of all systems weekly, which doesn't require anyone being here and demands a shut down of some of the security procedures. Alec isn't sure how they are stopping the cameras or tracking, but he can only hope it's been done. He is leaving a lot up to other people and faith, something he doesn't relish, but in the back of his head, Alec is planning an alternate scenario, one that at least gets him and Max out of here in one piece.

Quickly he gets into the TC email system and sends out a short message…

Dix pops his head up when he hears the audible tone indicating that he has a message. He notices the IP points to Boise, and for one second he wonders if it's Manticore and they'd caught them, but a review of the subject line proves him wrong.

_Project 946 as scheduled.___

Taking a deep breath, he opens the email and smiles.

_D-_

_Hope you there man, supposedly this is a secure line…but its Manticore. I've only got 30 minutes, hit me back._

The transhuman calls out to Mole and begins typing back….

Alec is relieved when an email is returned to him from TC.

_946-_

_Am here, been waiting buddy. Glad to hear the rumors of your death were overstated. Got your gift, interesting info. We have a thought, Logan working on a Senator. Good ol M "explosion"._

~~~~~~~~~~~~

_D-_

_You read my mind, need to do it fast though, running out of time here, can't explain. 36 hours enough time? We can organize those on the list._

_Also, senator needs to confirm they will be free, even if it is to just stay where they are. No new "facilities"._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_946-_

_Should be.__ Checked with L, he's contacted S and looks good, apparently S is high in the government. Planning military force to stop any M interference. He agreed to do what he can for residents, has hope 'cause of Seattle. Can you contact me again?_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_ D- _

_Probably not.__ Tell L and S that we will plan for 4 am Tuesday morning. Won't be able to contact you before, we will just assume it happens. I'm forwarding more info to you…R&D stuff that should help._

Alec glances at the clock; he has maybe 10 minutes left. Long enough to get a last message out if Dix emails him back soon.

_946- _

_Great, that'll help. Here's to hoping it works and we see you guys soon. TC misses you both._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_D-_

_We miss them too. Good luck. Be sure to destroy this supplier email, you never know around here._

He may be trusting Jake with his life, but he refuses to allow them access into TC. For all he knows, his communications are being tracked and the email traced. With that, Alec logs off the computer and exits the room, a grim expression on his face. He hopes that Dix and Logan can take care of their end, otherwise it could be just him and Max against Manticore. Not a good place to be. 

As he turns the corner, he runs into Jake for the second time that day. The man's neutral expression doesn't reveal if his end of the plan went well or not.

"494."

"Sir."

Alec stands at attention; they can be seen now, but not heard.

"Successful dealings with your next mission contacts. You should be all set. Four am Tuesday, meet your handler in the training area, he will brief you."

"Yes sir."

"Please inform 452 also, she is in her quarters."

Alec looks at the man -- it's not the words, but the tone he says it in. Something is going on. "Yes, sir. I'll do that ASAP."

"That would be preferable 494."

Now Alec is concerned. _What if something happened in medical? _A millions thoughts fly through his head and he tries not to look like he is panicked as he heads towards the barracks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He pushes open her door without knocking and sighs at the picture in front of him. She is curled into a tight ball, facing the gray concrete wall. Listening carefully, he can tell she is sleeping by her breathing pattern. She is still wearing her city camos and t-shirt, lying on top of the meager covers, her hair still in the high ponytail from training that morning.

Closing the door behind him, he calls her name softly. No need to scare her. 

"Max…" 

While Alec had been waiting for Dix's email, he had amused himself by checking out the Manticore security system. Honestly, for a facility holding 50 plus supersoldiers, it wasn't all that great. There were cameras in the halls of the barracks, but not the rooms themselves. 

When she doesn't answer, he moves closer and sits lightly on the edge of the bed, leaning slightly to look at her face. He is surprised when she doesn't even wake up.

"Max…"

This time he gets a murmur from her. "Yeah…."

"Hey, wake up." He shakes her slightly.

She mutters something even he can't hear, but rolls over and opens her eyes. In that instant, he sees the pain written all over her face.

"Max? What's wrong? What did they do?" Quickly his eyes scan over her body; there is no outward explanation for the anguish on her face. That expression is practically killing him inside.

"What do you think they did, Alec? They stuck a needle in me and they…they took my eggs. They took them and they will create something with our genes, and use it to test whatever is on the agenda today."

Alec has to hold back tears and gathers her in his arms, whispering in her hair. "I know, baby. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry you had to do that."

"I thought I could, I mean, really they aren't even babies. But…they could be. Someday. They could be our children, Alec, and instead they are a science experiment. I became what I always hated, what I hated my mother for. For giving me up to be tortured."

He pulls her away slightly. "You had no choice, Max. You aren't doing this voluntarily -- it's to save a nation, save our people. The ones who are here now."

She gives him an inscrutable look and places her head on his chest again. "I know… logically, I know that. But at the same time…I feel like I'm abandoning something, and it doesn't even exist."

"I know, Max -- and I'm not trying to be callous here. I had the same thoughts you did, but we need to forget it for now and concentrate on the mission at hand. Stopping this nightmare so they can never do this again."

He feels her slowly nod her head. "Alec, I'm scared. I'm terrified that once we expose this mess, the government will just come in and take over again. Start over with all the Manticore research."

He smiles slightly. "Oh, they won't be able to do that."

Again she pulls her head away and eyes him curiously. "Why?"

"Once the military gets here to prevent a "fire," Jake and I are going to destroy the hard drives -- all the R&D, personnel files, everything. The other sites will be doing the same. There won't be anything left to start over with. The senator Logan knows is going to have everything from the HQ destroyed."

"Good, very good." She pulls away again and leans against the wall, legs dangling off the side of the bed. He shifts slightly and matches her position.

They sit in silence for several minutes before her small voice breaks in. "I'm sorry for…earlier."

"What? Don't be sorry, Max, don't ever be sorry for being human."

She gives a sarcastic laugh. "Nice, funny. I just…this is war and I'm crying over some lost eggs. Just seems silly now. This isn't me, Alec, when did I get all emotional?"

"Max, you've always been empathic towards others, but never allowed your own feelings out. It's what you have done the entire time I have known you. You try so hard to do the right thing for everyone else, regardless of how it impacts your life. And I know you don't want to hear it, but that's part of the reason why your life seemed to suck so hard. It was your own damn fault."

She looks at him sideways. "When did you get so wise?"

"About the same time as you realized you can't save them all. We've changed since TC, Max. I've grown up a bit even."

"Never thought I would see that happen." She smiles at him.

"Yeah, me neither." He throws his hands up and smiles. "Who knew."

"I did."

His head snaps back down at her. "Max, you hated me. Actually I don't think hate is accurate. Despise, deplore, loath, maybe wish a slow and painful death."

"At one time, sure. Didn't take long for me to realize that eventually you would become a great leader, Alec. People trust and respect you, even after the whole hunt-a-transgenic incident. I understand you were doing what you had to to survive, and that you had no real commitment to me or anyone. I couldn't expect you to want to save the world. That was my mission, not yours." She shrugs.

"Yeah, but I didn't exactly make it easy to trust me, did I?"

"No, you didn't."

"When did you?" He turns to her.

"Huh?"

"When did you finally trust me?"

She tilts her head at him slightly, and he can tell she is thinking. "I began to see signs of the real Alec during the merlady rescue. You were honestly concerned for someone besides yourself. But I really started to trust you after you were arrested." She pauses and her expression changes to one of sadness. "I told you the one thing Logan never knew."

"You never told him about Ben?" He can't hide the surprise in his voice. 

"No, I couldn't. I felt so guilty. You were the first and last person I told."

"I'm glad you trusted me, Max, but that's one hell of a burden to carry."

She shrugs again. "I managed. But after I finally let it out, I felt better. You know?"

"Yeah."

She pauses. "This is it, Alec. Make or break."

"Yup." He tilts his head against the wall behind them.

"You remember the deal?"

He does, how could he not? They had essentially made a suicide pact: if it comes down to it, they would rather die than stay here under Manticore rule. "Yeah, I remember."

Again they lapse into silence, still side by side, each of them staring at the concrete wall opposite them, lost in their own thoughts. Alec is debating the odds of them actually losing their lives in this. Probably pretty good actually, since this has to be the least precise mission he's ever attempted.

'We'll make it," she says. "We have to."

Alec grabs her hand and squeezes lightly. "Yeah. We will." He sighs audibly; he's been in her room much too long. "I have to go. See you tomorrow."

"Ok."

Alec stands slowly and she follows him to the door. Right before he opens it, her hand on his bicep stops him. "I love you, Alec."

He turns and pulls her into a tight hug. "Me too, Max. Me too."

After several minutes, he regretfully pulls away from her and smoothes back some errant hairs. Without speaking, he opens the door and walks out. All Alec can hope is that isn't the last time he will touch her, feel her warm, soft skin, her silky hair.

tbc……………………….


	26. Putting Your Money

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 26

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: The very last part of this chapter is an ode to a scene in one of my favorite scary movies of all time. It doesn't even involve the main characters, its two supporting characters who are being chased by the…bad guys. They get caught in a tunnel…and well read the fic to see what happens. I'll be surprised if anyone can figure out the movie. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 25: Putting Your Money….

Tuesday, Midnight, Pacific (1 am Mountain)

Terminal City

"Is everything set?" he asks for the hundredth time that hour.

"Yes, Mole. Everything is set. The senator has arranged for the Marines to grab all the Grand Committee at one time, stopping them from communicating and warning each other. At the same time at the separate sites, the good guys will lock down the transgenics in their cells so the Marines can come in and round up the higher ups there. Then in the morning, the transgenic population will find a whole new, and very free, world."

"I hope this works."

"Me too. Senator Dobson assured us that it will be the transgenics' decision about what to do. There will be a news conference in the morning explaining the raids and hopefully calming the nation's fears. With any luck, that will help us too."

"What if it doesn't, Dix? What if the transgenics can't handle being free?"

Dix has never seen the bigger man so concerned, but then again, it is Max and Alec. "Mole, they all want to be free, at least a little. And we'll worry if it comes to that."

"Ok, sorry. I just want this over with already."

"We all do man, we all want Max and Alec back alive. And we want our brothers and sisters out there to experience freedom."

"Jesus, man, you've been hanging around Max too much." Mole waves a hand around. "Besides, this ain't exactly what I pictured freedom as, did you?"

"It's better."

With that, Mole is stumped and when Dix turns back to the computer bank, he knows no explanation will be forthcoming. But somewhere inside, Mole understands; despite the hardships, the struggle, he couldn't be happier living with his own kind, fighting for freedom with them, and under no one's rule but their own.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday, 2 am, Mountain

Manticore, Barracks A, Room 494

Alec stares at the ceiling and exhales loudly. Two hours, two small, insignificant and yet longest hours of his life. He runs through the plan in his head; the Marine detachment should be in the woods, outside transgenic vision at 3:40 am, and just then, Jacob should be unlocking his door and taking him to Max. With the exception of the two or three X's guarding the perimeter, the rest will be locked down in their rooms at 3:50. At precisely 4 am, the Marines would enter the compound, containing the sentries, and gathering all the top brass -- stopping them from attempting to get the facility back. 

Everything seems good to go. All he has left to do is wait, and hope nothing goes wrong.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday 3:00 am, Mountain

Manticore, Barracks A, Room 452

Her stomach is in knots; this could finally be the end of Manticore. They could at long last get one monkey off their backs. Although there was still the problem of White, but knowing Manticore would never be back would sure help the situation. Max stands up and starts pacing, increasing her speed as the time ticks by, excruciatingly slowly.

Fifteen minutes later, she is ready to climb the walls. Alec isn't scheduled to come get her for another 25 minutes. _I wonder how he is doing. Probably sleeping, the ass. Damn sharks._

Another five pass, and Max is surprised when her cell door opens. This would be early for Alec, so she approaches cautiously, and is shocked to find two security guards and one of the guys from the lab there.

"452, we need you to come to medical," The lab tech informs her in a bored tone.

"It's 3 in the morning, this can't wait?" She does her best to exude annoyance when every alarm bell in her head is telling her this is bad.

"No," he states and turns around, apparently expecting her to just follow.

Which she does. She can't blow it now, not with 40 minutes until showtime.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday, 2:30 am, Pacific (3:30 Mountain)

Terminal City

Dix looks around expectantly, but there is nothing for him to do but wait. They won't know if it was a success until it's all over and Logan calls them or the team they sent out to retrieve Max and Alec contacts them.

That had been a fight of epic (or "Max and Alec") proportions. Mole had insisted on going out to Boise tonight to pick up their much missed leaders, but Dix thought it was a horrible idea. Terminal City had already lost one set of leaders to a simple operation. What was going on tonight was far from simple, and Dix wasn't willing to let another leader go out there and retrieve them. 

Mole had, of course, protested; the lizard didn't trust anyone else to do it. Dix had countered with endless worst-case scenarios for him, all of them ending with Mole's death or re-capture by a not-so-destroyed Manticore. After much fast-talking, Dix had convinced Mole to allow Dalton and two other trusted X5s to head out yesterday. 

The three Xs are currently instilled outside the compound waiting for the military to move in and help, and then to bring home their missing leaders. Of course they are on radio silence; no need to alert anyone to their presence.

Dix leans his head against the back of the chair and sighs. This could be the longest 45 minutes of his life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday, 3:40 am, Mountain

Manticore, Barracks A, Room 494

Right on time, Alec's door unlocks and swings open, and the X stands quickly, just in case. Thankfully, it's just Jake, and Alec noiselessly exits, closing the door behind him. Without speaking, they head 50 yards to the south and Jake uses a key to unlock a door similar to his. Alec feels a rush of adrenaline course through him; this was the part of missions that he loved, getting out there and completing the task right under the enemy's nose.

As the door opens, Alec takes one step in only to be greeted by nothing. She's not there. Lightning fast, he spins on the other man, pinning him against inside wall -- one hand squeezing Jacob's neck enough to restrict airflow.

"What the hell is going on?" he hisses.

Jake just shakes his head and indicates for Alec to let go a little. The transgenic narrows his eyes menacingly, but complies, allowing enough air into the other man's lungs so he can speak.

"I don't know. No one is taken out of barracks this time of night unless it's for an operation."

"Well, I'm _sure _Max would have mentioned a mission, so where the hell is she?" Alec is furious; they are not even 2 minutes into this and there's already a problem of the worst kind: Max is AWOL. With a frustrated sigh, he releases Jake's neck and leaves the room, heading toward security. 

"Let's go, we can find her on the monitors," he barks at the human, and heads down the hall. Luckily, security was the next stop anyway because they needed to lock down the barracks doors.

While the barracks cell doors are manually locked at night, from the security stations you can do a computerized lockdown, so the physical keys that all the security people and top people at the facility have, don't work. The doors have to be unlocked again by inputting the code set when they are locked down to start with.

Slipping through the facility, the two men walk with purpose; security won't question Jacob accompanying a transgenic -- that's not their job. They easily make their way to Security Station Three, blissfully unmanned during the hours of midnight through five am. 

Entering, Alec checks out the area; the room is maybe 5 by 10 feet, with one wall covered in cameras, and the control panel. In the middle of the room is a small station, where the lockdown controls are. Jake turns on the overhead lights, illuminating the dark room for his sake.

Quickly, the two men turn on all the security monitors, and while Jake starts the sequence for lockdown, Alec scans for the missing transgenic. He has to find her, and quickly. Alec has no intention of being caught up with the transgenics onsite; he wants to slip out quietly once the military has it under control. 

Midway through the scan, he finds her on the monitors. And only two words escape his lips into the silent room.

"Oh, shit."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday 3:40 am

Manticore, Medical Ward

She's just about had it with whatever is going on; they brought her to medical and so far she has silently sat on the bed, waiting for the lab tech to return. They are 20 minutes from freedom and she's stuck here, playing the dutiful soldier. Max can only imagine that Alec is going in insane wondering where she is. They should be at her door by now, only to find her cell very empty. Hopefully though he will be able to locate her on the security cameras. It's not critical that they are together when it all happens, but it sure would be nice. She doesn't want to lose him in the mess she is sure will occur, and Max doubts Olivet or security would go down without a fight.

Sighing, she entwines her fingers, relieved when a sound behind her indicates the return of someone. Unfortunately, her relief is short lived when she sees that the tech is carrying a petri dish. He places it carefully on the stainless steel counter and turns to her.

"Strip from the waist down."

"What?"

"You heard me, 452. Waist down. Time for insemination."

She is stunned; they can't be doing this now, of all times. Quickly she looks at the clock -- 15 minutes left -- maybe she can draw this out. "Of all times in the morning you drag me out of bed…on whose authority?"

Another voice answers the question from the door. "Mine, 452. Now strip." Max turns and finds Olivet leaning in the doorframe, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Or should I call you Max?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday, 3:50 am

Manticore, Security Office 3

"Oh shit…FUCK. I have to go get her."

"What?" Jake yells from his position. "I'm almost done, hang on!"

"No, it's him, Olivet. He knows, holy shit. HE KNOWS."

"How can you tell?" Jake asks and Alec hears the clicking of buttons increasing.

"Lip reading, man. Basic training."

Without even waiting to hear Jake's response, Alec opens the door and runs down the halls at top speed. Even at this rate, he is 2 or 3 minutes from medical. Plenty of time to…

_No, no, no. Hang on, Max._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday, 3:55 am

Manticore, Medical Ward

Max shrugs and looks at him, keeping the fear off her face and out of her voice. "Congratulations, asshole, you figured it out."

Swiftly, Olivet approaches her and before she can react, punches her across the face -- not knocking her out, but dazing her a bit. _Fucking X3s. _She can feel him strapping her to the bed and she immediately starts struggling. 

"Relax, 452. It will all be over in a minute. You'll be carrying the perfect Manticore soldier. I may have to put you in solitary for the next 9 months, but it will happen, and I'll be able to show the Committee my success."

"You sick, twisted freak. You're one of us, how could you do this? You know what they did to you…." she spits at him and fights as the lab tech cuts her pants off.

"I'm not 'one of you,' Max. I never was. I'm better than you. I'm the first human-like X that didn't die from progeria. I'm the first to succeed, and here, success is rewarded in spades. How do you think I got this assignment?" When she doesn't answer, he grabs her roughly by the cheeks. "By being the best, by completing every mission I've attempted, and this will be no different."

She can feel the cool air touching her bare legs and she starts to panic; she can't let them impregnate her. Can't. Struggling, she pulls harder at the straps holding her down, the metal only cutting into her skin.

That's when she hears it, and by Olivet's expression he hears it too. Alarm bells.

Alec races through the facility at top speed, and just as he gets to the front of the med ward, alarms go off. Obviously his flight didn't go unnoticed by security. He pushes open the double doors and is greeted by silence and darkness. Quickly, however, his eyes adjust and he walks a short hallway to the smaller procedure rooms. He hadn't taken notice of which one she was in, but only one has light streaming from the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tuesday 3:58 am

Perimeter of Manticore

"What the hell is that?" Commander Law barks at his unit. He can hear the ringing all the way out here.

"The internal alarm is going off, sir," his second responds quickly.

Law surveys the situation, but the perimeter guards seem to also be confused by the ringing. It's a perfect opportunity. "Christ. Ok men, let's go!"

With that, a 50-man Marine unit descends on the fence, snipers tranquilizing the X's on duty quickly. With military precision, they cut through the previously electrified fence; the power had been shut off just seconds before by Jacob.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Medical Ward, Same Time

Max is still fighting the lab tech who has one hand on her abdomen, somewhat stilling her, with the other hand poised with needle in hand, ready to enter. Olivet seems content to stand at her head and watch with disturbing pleasure.

Max feels pressure when suddenly Olivet goes flying across the room, followed with transgenic speed by Alec. The director hits the counter with incredible force, his head making contact with  a sharp cracking noise in the small room against the metal cabinets above and slumps to the ground unconscious -- a small trickle of blood making its way down his face from his temple. Alec manages to stop himself at Max's side and glares at the tech who hasn't moved since watching his director explode across the room.

"You better get the hell out of here." Alec's voice is vicious, angry and non-negotiable.

The tech makes the correct decision and gets up, leaving the unused needle on the tray next to him. He walks by Alec as quickly as possible, as the transgenic keeps his eyes on him the entire time until he is out of the room.

Swiftly he removes the restraints from Max and lifts her off the table, placing her carefully on the ground. Initially she is a little wobbly, but easily gets her balance.

"Are they in?" she asks as she pulls on a pair of dark blue scrub pants and laces up her boots.

"Should be, let's get out of here."

He grabs her hand, but before they can make it out the door, Alec feels Max's hand release him. He turns to find her struggling with Olivet, her upper arm tightly in the other man's grasp. Just as she is starting to gain the upper hand, Olivet pulls a gun and places at her temple, stilling both Max and Alec from attempting anything.

"Move one centimeter and she's dead."

Alec does nothing but stare at Olivet, a murderous expression on his face. If he thought he could beat a bullet, Alec would charge. Instead he goes the route he is best at…talking.

"You can't win, _Dick_. Its over." __

"Nothing's OVER, 494. I've got you both at a distinct disadvantage." Olivet presses the gun harder into Max's skin.

"What you aren't seeing, Olivet, is that there is a Marine unit infiltrating your facility and all the other Manticore farms around the country right now. It's not just over for you, man -- it's over for everyone. Manticore is history."

"You're lying. I've read your file, 494 -- that's what you do. You lie and talk people into things. It's a gift really. A gift I can only hope your offspring will inherit." The grin on Olivet's face gives Alec the chills.

Alec remains still, but he can hear someone entering the Medical Ward. He can only hope it's the Marines and not security.  "Look at my face, Olivet. Do I look worried in the least bit, do I look like a man resigned to staying in this hell hole?"

Alec can see Olivet thinking about this so he continues. "It is over. In five minutes, this place -- everything you've worked for -- will be under government control. No more experiments, no more trainings and missions. All your R&D will be destroyed." Now Alec approaches them imperceptibly, his voice almost a whisper. "Your purpose in this world will be gone"

Keeping one hand holding the gun at Max, and his eyes never leaving Alec, Olivet grabs his radio and calls security. 

"Olivet to Station One, what is your status?"

"We've got a problem. Someone has cut through the fence and is in the facility. We can't seem to pin them down, seems to be 40 plus people." There's a pause. "They look military, sir. I've got half a dozen men trying to get them. I can't seem to lockdown at all."

Alec speaks again. "We have control, Olivet. Give up now and maybe I won't have to kill you."

Just then whoever had entered medical ward comes around the corner, and Alec realizes they are in trouble. It's not the military, it's Manticore security, and he can only see one for now. Additionally, now in the distance he can hear gunfire. It's started.

Alec turns back to Olivet. He needs to get him to drop that gun. "Give it up, Olivet. Your men are outmanned and will be overrun in minutes. It won't take them long to find you."

"No, NO! I won't allow it." Olivet removes the safety from the gun. Alec has managed not to look at Max until now -- afraid that if he does, he won't be able to focus. Somehow he manages still not to.

He hears a noise behind him and Alec moves to the door, surprising the guard who has just arrived at the threshold. A well-placed punch to the face, and Alec grabs the man's gun as he falls to the ground. Faster than he has ever moved in his life, Alec turns and fires one shot, hitting his mark with deadly accuracy. Olivet hits the ground, his gun unfired, a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

Max stands stunned for a moment before snapping to and grabbing the gun that had just seconds before been pointing at her head. Alec leans over the unconscious guard and grabs a grenade off the man's belt. Slipping it into his pocket, he looks down the dark hall to find no one else coming.

Once again grabbing her hand, he pulls her down the short hall into the main medical area. Just as they reach the double doors, however, Alec sees half a dozen armed guards racing to their position.

"Damn…" he mutters, and swings back in the direction they just came, Max following closely behind him. Those doors are the only way out of here.

He walks past the room they were just in and observes Olivet lying on the ground, still dead and the guard out cold on the floor. They walk another 10 yards before coming to the end of the hall, and the road. None of the procedure rooms have windows; they are at a dead end, with only a maintenance closet in front of them.

Thinking quickly, he opens the door and shoves her in.

"Alec, do you really think that hiding in the closet will work? I'm _pretty_ sure they will look here."

He says nothing, but smiles and points up. In the wall near the ceiling there is a grate covering the heating duct. It is just big enough to fit a transgenic.

Smiling back at him, she puts her foot in his offered hand, and he boosts her up enough so she can tear down the cover. As she does, dust flies out of the duct and Max sneezes hard.

"Could you make some more noise? I don't think they quite heard us in the barracks." he snips at her.

Instead of responding, Max places one boot on his shoulder and pushes herself easily into the hole, pulling her body in with her arms. He waits for her to disappear before leaping and catching the edge of the hole with his hands. Mimicking Max, he uses his upper arm strength to pull through the hole.

It's small, maybe 24 by 24 inches, and covered with thick dust on every surface. Alec has to restrain himself from sneezing like Max; he would never hear the end of it if he did. There is just enough room for him to lie on his stomach and maybe get half a push up off before hitting the top. 

Max is currently facing away from him, her ass staring him right in the face, and starting to shimmy on her stomach down the narrow passage -- neither really sure where they are going yet, but hoping to find a way out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Commander Law surveys the scene in front of him. The damn security guards were better armed than he had expected, but not enough to concern him. Eventually they will take over, it's just a matter of patience. They are fighting in the hall outside the executive offices. His men had managed to gather about half their targets and contain them before running into the current problem.

Law looks at his second in command, Rodriguez, and sighs. "Enough of this crap, smoke 'em."

Rodriguez sends the message to the half a dozen men, and they all don small gas masks before sending smoke bombs down the long hallway in the direction of resistance.

It doesn't take long before the only noise is coughing and choking, and Law and his men move forward carefully, swiftly restraining the men and moving them out of the area. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Coming to a T in the heating system, Max pauses and looks both ways. "Which way?" she hollers back at him.

"I don't know, Max, I didn't have a chance to memorize the system….well we started in medical and headed north, so….left?"

"Was that a statement or a question?"

"Just…go left, Max."

He hears her make an annoyed noise, but she turns left. Thankfully, a few hundred yards after they make the turn, the duct increases in size. It's large enough now that they can walk hunched over, which will make for a faster getaway.

Just as they get moving again, she pauses and he stops beside her. "What?"

"I heard something." Again she pauses, and cocks her head to the side. "In the vent with us."

He puts his head down and listens intently, also hearing the distinct scratching noises of people following them.

"Gotta be Manticore. Move…" He grabs her upper arm and they start moving again, this time stopped when similar noises start from ahead of them.

"Shit," he mutters, and swings his head back and forth. There are people ahead and behind them now, and from the sounds of it, lots of them. Again he curses, "Fuck me."

Looking around, Alec sees little opportunity for escape. They can't move forward or back, as there are soldiers poised to stop them at all costs for sure. The last T is 200 yards back, but now he can see the guards coming that direction; they would never make it. The vent is pretty well built, with no seams he can break through, and anyway, Alec doubts his strength could punch a hole through the metal.

He lashes out a fist at the side of their trap, only to have pain shoot up through his arm and into his shoulder. Of course, there is no dent in the vent.

"Son of a bitch!" he screams and shakes his hand.

"Alec…"

"I know. I got nothing, Max, how 'bout you?"

"I was about to try what you did, but, thankfully, you beat me to it." She gives him a tight smile.

"Lucky me."

She looks back the way they came; the guards are closer now -- they're almost to where the vent expands. "Alec…"

"I know." His tone is defeated. He can't believe its come to this. Alec was prepared to die today, but he never really believed it could happen- until now.

He pulls out the gun and gets 4 or 5 shots off in that direction before running out and doing no damage. _Fucking Kevlar_. They won't hold still long enough for him to get a head shot in.

"Dammit!" Now he can see the soldiers approaching from the left, and he is surprised to see Max raise her weapon and get a few shots off. The first guard goes down screaming, but there are 4 more where he came from, and she's having no better luck than he is when the weapon runs out of ammo so quickly.

Luckily, the guards have slowed their approach. Obviously their first choice would be  to get them alive, but Alec has no doubt that failing that, the guards would be fine with bringing back bodies. Alec's mind is whirring, but his options are seriously limited. There is nowhere to go and seven armed men willing to stop them from attempting it.

Turing his head, he sees the distinctly Manticore soldiers coming entirely too close for his taste. Without speaking, he pulls the grenade out of his pocket and shows her. She sighs and imperceptibly nods. They won't go back, they refuse to, not after this time. They had made the agreement and Alec is prepared to stick by it.

He gathers her in his arms in front of him, placing one last kiss in her hair. She puts her hands on the grenade around his. He squeezes her tighter and places his forehead on her left shoulder, breathing through his nose to inhale her scent. 

"I love you, Max." He can hear her sniffling.

"I love you too, Alec."

Just then, their pursuers get within 10 yards of them, and the last thing Alec sees before pulling the pin is the Manticore lion emblem.

tbc…………………………..


	27. Where Your Mouth Is

Title: Total Recall, Chapter 27-The End

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: Tis the end of the road. Thank you everyone for coming with me, its been a fun ride! Hope it was good for you too!

AN2: Wow Panda! I didn't think anyone would get the movie! Color me impressed! For those who didn't recognize it, it was Aliens. Watch the movie, it's a great one, and you'll see the scene near the end.

AN3: Well, you are getting this chapter early, I'd say its because I've tortured you enough (which I have), or that you've been such great fans (which you have). But the honest truth is hubby and I got tickets to a Red Wings game tonight and I wont have time to do it then, so rather than make you wait till tomorrow, I figured I'd post now. Save some stress for y'all.

Again…thank you. Hopefully I'll start on another fic this month. Not sure if it will be a prequel, for sure not a sequel though. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 27: …Where Your Mouth Is

The explosion that occurs, however, is not what he expected -- and a bit early. One minute, Alec is ready to meet his maker, so to speak, but the next, he and Max are freefalling, coming to a hard stop on their backs on the training room mats. Alec is careful not to release the lever on the grenade; until then, the small bomb is safe in his hands.

Getting his bearings, Alec grips onto Max even tighter, confused as to the turn of events. Looking up, he sees the large hole they came through and several guards on the ground in various states of misery; obviously they hadn't taken the nearly 20 foot fall as well. 

Finally sitting slowly - his shoulders screaming in protest - he breaks out in a large smile when he sees Dalton standing there, a small laser cutter in one hand, the end to a training rope that connected to the ceiling near the vent in the other and an equally broad smile on his face. The other two Xs with him are restraining the guards and grinning like fools.

Alec finally turns his attention to the woman still in his arms. She, like everyone else, is smiling until she looks at their entwined hands. The grenade.

"You may want to hang onto that," she says and releases it, standing slowly.

He follows her carefully; it may be live, but as long as his hand doesn't slip, they are fine. Even if it does slip, they have 4 seconds to get the hell out of the way, plenty of time for a transgenic.

"We are awful glad you see you guys alive," Dalton says, and starts to lead the way out of the room.

"Yeah, we are awful glad to BE alive," Max responds.

"Well let's get you out of here and back to TC where you belong," the X6 says.

"We need to do something first," Alec says, and marches toward the computer labs. "How's the military doing? Are they busy?"

"Last reports were they got the last of the resisting guards so I would say they are, sir. They don't know we are here, but our orders are to retrieve you two and get out without being nabbed by the Marines. So, sir, I really think we should be going."

"Orders? Whose orders?" Alec keeps walking toward the labs, ignoring Dalton's suggestion.

"Well…Dix's, sir."

Alec snorts at that and gives a sideways glance to Max. "Dix, huh? I'm guessing he and Mole are in charge then?"

"Yes, sir."

"And the place is still standing?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good…and for the love of god, stop calling me sir."

"Yes….Alec."

The older transgenic just shakes his head and walks through the open door marked in large gray letters…COMPUTER LAB. The lab is empty; everyone has been rounded up by now and is being held until further instruction that all the facilities had been captured.

Alec walks over to one computer, bends down…and then remembers he is holding the grenade. He stands back up and carefully hands the device to Max, who grips it for dear life. She knows what he is doing, and the grenade will come in handy, but not quite yet. 

Once relieving himself of the grenade, Alec sits down and starts typing at transgenic speed, moving through the Manticore system like a professional. Dalton and the other two Xs wait at the door, keeping an eye out for any Marines that might be sweeping the area -- and wisely not second-guessing Alec's decision to come here.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" Max asks as he accesses the R&D department files and starts a mass delete of everything, Alec is thrilled to see half the information already wiped; obviously Jacob had started before the military found him. Alec just needs to get rid of the rest.

"I was a busy boy during my half-hour on the computer the other day. And Jake gave me some of the codes, the rest I just hacked."

"I'm impressed."

"As you should be." He spins in the chair to face her, his expression . "Why in the world did Olivet pull you into Medical at 3 am?"

"You tell me and we'll both know. I didn't have a chance to ask him before you put a bullet in his head."

"Heh, my bad." He smirks at her.

"I just hope everything is ok…"

Alec purses his lips in thought. "I have a feeling everything will work out this time, Max." 

"Yeah, you know, me too." She smiles at him.

He turns back to the computer and completes the hard drive erase, standing quickly and pulling her to the door.

Alec speaks to Dalton. "All clear?"

"Yes, sir…Alec." The boy cringes, but Alec just smiles.

"Go ahead, Max -- let 'er rip," he says, and watches Max throw the grenade back through the door.

The five transgenics run the second the device leaves her hands and are jumping out an open window in the old classroom area where Alec was a mere three days ago, as the explosion rocks the facility. 

They make it into the woods before pausing to turn back. There is a small plume of smoke coming from the center of the facility, but other than that, there is no indication of the turmoil going on inside. 

"We did it," Alec says and entwines Max's fingers with his.

For just one moment, she allows herself to be pleased. "Yeah, we did."

Five minutes later, they come upon the SUV Dalton had procured for the trip -- hidden in some thick brush maybe a click from the facility. One of the other X5s drives, with Dalton in the passenger seat. Max and Alec sit in the middle, and the third X lays on the third row, quickly falling asleep as they hit the open road.

Dalton turns in his seat and points at their feet to a medium sized backpack. "New clothes. Once we are outside Boise, we'll stop and you can change. I'm sure you want out of the Manticore uniform."

"Yeah, we do. Thanks," Alec answers for them, and looks at Max who is staring out the window, lost in thought.

He touches her shoulder lightly. "Hey, you ok?"

She turns and smiles slightly. "Yeah, just…I hope it's better, Alec."

"Can't be worse, Max."

Dalton's voice from the front seat distracts them. "Hey, guys…listen." And he turns up the sound on the radio.

_"…According to sources, the 15 locations were disguised as Juvenile Detention facilities. In a coordinated raid on these locations, the military was able to take control and gather those responsible. Only one facility located outside Seattle had been abandoned and burned to the ground before the raids commenced. Documents have leaked exposing the true nature of the transgenics, best known in Seattle where they live in peaceful co-existence with the human population around them…"_

Alec snorts derisively. "Peaceful co-existence? What are they on?"

"Shut up," Max hisses at him and continues to listen.

_"The small Seattle population had been assumed to be the only location of these transgenics. A fact that was forced upon the people of America by certain factions in our own government who were willing to do anything to avoid exposure of these others sites. In addition to perpetuating the idea that the transgenics are dangerous creatures whose mere existence threatens our own. A fact which documents uncovered have disputed. They were created to protect us, the human race, not to destroy us._

_There are pages and pages of reports outlining the atrocities brought upon these children. Children forced to grow up as soldiers, with no parental ties, no friends or family at all. Who learn how to use a gun before they learn to read. Many of whom are trained to assassinate before their 10th birthday…"_

"Eighth birthday," Alec comments, and this time Max hushes him with a cuff to the back of the head.

_"Instead of a childhood they have combat training, tactics, escape and evade maneuvers, they receive PhD level educations by the time they hit puberty. The complete disregard for human compassion is unreal. In these reports they speak of numbers, not names, of autopsies on the ones that "failed" and organ harvesting from live donors."_

At that, Alec looks at Max and squeezes her hand lightly. 

_"These children didn't WANT to be brought into this world, they were forced by a program created by our government. Senator Jack McCoy has announced that there is a bill already circulating in the house and Senate putting an end to this type of torture and allowing the freedom to those children, who until today, had none. According to the Senator, the semantics of what to do with the sudden influx of parentless children is still being worked out, but for now they are going to be allowed to remain where they are, cared for by others of their kind, until it can be decided. Reporting live from Capitol Hill…this is Jessica Marin for Fox News."_

Dalton turns off the radio and practically beams at them. "It's over, isn't it? We are really free?"

Alec leans forward and claps the younger man on the shoulder, a little surprised himself at the wonders that had happened in 36 hours. "Yeah, we are."

Leaning back, he wraps one arm around Max, pulling her into him. She slides across the seat and rests her head on his shoulder, as he leans down and whispers in her ear.

"We have all the time in the world now, Max."

She tilts her head up. "Yeah, we do. What do you want to do first with our freedom?"

"Ohhh, I can think of a few things." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively at her.

She shakes her head slightly and leans into him, their lips meeting in a light, but promising, kiss.

"I'm sure you can, Alec, I'm sure you can." She pulls her head away and places it on his shoulder again, content to let the lull of the engine pull her into sleep. Her first sleep in a whole new world.

Fin

Don't forget to review the last chapter….perhaps I have an epilogue on my computer here that I can post if you ask nice enough. 

Here's a little breakdown of where I got the names for my characters in the story (except the X6's, I made those up) I mean no harm, this is no reflection on the real people, it's a compliment they even made it in the fic:

Richard Olivet – Dr Olivet from Law and Order the original series, and named after my beta, who uses Olivet in her online name (she's the best).

Dr Thomas Brady – Tom Brady, QB of the 2004 Champ New England Patriots (and former Michigan QB)

Commander Law – Ty Law, another player on the Patriots and former Michigan alumn

SIC Rodriguez – Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, newly signed catcher for the Detroit Tigers, formerly on the 2004 Champion Florida Marlins team.


	28. Epilogue

Title: Total Recall, Epilogue

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN: You know, I wrote the fic and then realized I had deprived y'all of the TC reunion. Especially Mole and Dix, so I wrote this last little bit. No smuttiness here, I cant write that kind of stuff. Perhaps next fic I'll get a little more into the….unseemliness.

AN2: Thank you, yet again. You guys have seriously been the greatest fans a writer could ask for. I haven't started that other fic (RL has been insane the past few months), but I'm getting ideas, maybe even a few good ones. Until next time….

* * *

Epilogue: Reunions

They had arrived in Terminal City to practically a parade. Once they were well clear of Idaho and had passed into Washington, Dalton had called Dix and confirmed they were safe and en route home. Of course this information had been passed on to the masses, and a party had ensued welcoming their leaders back.

Mole and Dix had probably been the most excited to see them…..

_Before Alec can enjoy being home for the first time in months, he is practically attacked by Mole. The lizard came up and gave the transgenic a tight hug. Alec had pulled back and eyed the other man suspiciously._

_"Ok, who are you and what did you do with Mole? You a clone?"_

_Mole had apparently realized what he did in front of half of TC and made an attempt at covering for himself. "No man, just happy to pass the running of this place back to you. I think everyone can agree its better with you guys in charge."_

_Alec pursed his lips and shook his head. "Whatever man, we are just happy to be back."_

_"Very." Max says from next to him and is immediately scooped up by Joshua._

_"Little Fella!" He hollers and squeezes tight, earning a low groan from her._

_"Easy big fella, sore shoulder here."_

_The large dog man had put her down in an instant and was sniffing at her. "Lil' fella hurt?"_

_"Not bad Josh. Just still sore. Okay?" She had carefully run her hand over the big mans fur._

_"Ok, Joshua just glad to see you. Thought Max and Alec dead."_

_"Not yet, man, not yet." Alec commented and patted him on the back._

_Dix had then made a sudden appearance, coming to a halt next to Mole, staring at them almost in awe. "It's very good to see…" The smaller man stopped and sniffled slightly, Alec could tell he was trying to hold back tears. "We're just glad your home." He finally finishes with a guilty look. _

_"No more than us, boss. I hear you guys kept this place running in our absence." Alec said as they all started moving toward the command center. He could see a few dozen transgenic's standing in various buildings and balconies, watching them pass. He wondered where the heck everyonewas._

_"We did our best." Dix responded. "You and Max have a good system in place, we had a few supplier snags, but other than that…"_

_Alec cut him off. "No Dix, WE had a good system in place. All of us. Its good to know that if anything does happen…TC will go on."_

_Mole finally spoke up again, taking the cigar out of his mouth. "How about if we avoid that scenario again? Running this place once was enough for me."_

_Alec clapped the lizard on the back. "We'll do our best Mole, but you know how Max loves to get out of here and cause trouble."_

_The woman he was speaking of, who had been deep in conversation with Gem and Joshua, stopped talking and turned to him, smiling. "Shut up, jackass." _

_Suddenly Moles stopped walking and stared at them, his expression deadpan. "Wow, never thought I would miss that, but I did."_

_The group laughed, even Max and Alec, and as they walked into the center of TC, the two missing transgenics realized why no one seemed to be waiting for them. They were all here, waiting, clapping…cheering for their safe return….._

Now they sit in the small bar -- Alec behind the counter, pouring her a beer and himself a scotch. Most of TC's residents had gone to bed, exhausted from reveling in Max and Alec's return and their potential freedom. The party at started at 3 in the afternoon and it is currently pushing 3 am.

The two of them, however, had each gotten naps in the car on the way back and were way too hyped up to attempt sleep. The excitement of the day, the thrill of finally being home, as well as her genes, had kept them up into the early morning, barely sleeping but 5 hours in the last 24.

"You really think McCoy can do it?" she asks him and takes a long drink of her beer. Man, she missed beer.

"Yeah, I really do. I don't think it's going to be as easy as they seem to think, but it's a start." He swallows the rest of his scotch. "And at least we know Manticore can't come back, at least for a while."

She merely drinks her beer, her silence speaking volumes to him.

"Max, we got them. We may have actually done it this time. Jacob called me earlier, he says all the sites had the same success we did -- those who turned them in are free except to testify at trials. Files erased, people arrested, and the Grand Committee is out of business -- nailed by the FBI. I think they are actually going to be tried by Geneva Convention rules regarding the torture of imprisoned soldiers." He shrugs slightly.

"I know, Alec, it's just so hard to believe it. And how long will it take for people to accept us? The government can do what it will, but it won't make the hatred and fear stop."

At that, he walks around the counter, turns her in her seat and stares into her eyes. "No, it won't, Max, but its one more monkey off our back. Yeah, it's going to take time, but now it's time we actually have."

"But…White…." Her words are cut off by his finger on her lips.

"Don't think about it." He can see her start to protest and continues before she can. "No, Max, this is our time. Mine and yours, and for once, I won't let anything stop it. White is something to deal with later."

With that he leans in and takes her beer-placing it on the bar- as he kisses her on her lips. She responds by standing, sliding her small body up his as she does, her lips never leaving his. As she stands at her full height, he moves his hands to her back, pulling her even closer to him; he can feel body heat radiating off her. She is returning his kiss full force, holding nothing back.

Quickly, he increases the already feverish pace, devouring her with his tongue, tasting her. Alec groans involuntarily when one of her hands skims over his barcode and stops in his hair, her nimble fingers raking through his short locks.

Reluctantly, he pulls away from her and finds an attractive flush on her cheeks; something primal in him is pleased that he caused that reaction in her. Running a thumb along her jawline, he smiles at her.

"Come on, let's celebrate." His smile turns mischievous.

"I like your thinking, Alec." Her smile is seductive, her eyes burning with desire.

"You're going to like a whole lot more in a while," he whispers to her as he pushes the bar door open to the outside and starts leading her to his living area.

"God, I hope so," she whispers back.

"God has nothing to do with it, Max." He winks at her and pulls her body to his side, wrapping one arm around her waist.

Life, for the minute, is good.

THE END


End file.
